A BIT OF NOSTALGIA
Wilkins-Cloues-Bigelow-Pearson Post #39 and Unit #39
11/30/2009
Author: Richard Dahlgren, train361@tds.net
Keywords: Veterans, American Legion
Description: Wilkins-Cloues-Bigelow-Pearson Post 39, American Legion, Warner and Mt. View Senior Center, Bradford, sponsored a pot luck dinner and program to honor all veterans who have served our country.
(L TO R) Phil Stockwell, Director of Mt View Senior Center, Calvin Knickerbocker and Charlie Trowbridge, Post 39 Commander
It was a cold, raw, windy, rainy night in Warnertown on Saturday, November 14, 2009 but inside the Warner Town Hall the joint was jumpin.
Wilkins-Cloues-Bigelow-Pearson Post 39, American Legion, Warner and Mt. View Senior Center, Bradford, sponsored a pot luck dinner and program to honor all veterans who have served our country. A long and varied buffet table offered many different varieties of salads, casseroles, meats, and vegetables to whet the appetite. A separate dessert table was overflowing with homemade cookies, cakes and pies.
EXAMPLE OF SHEET MUSIC COLLECTION
The main event of the evening was a musical look back at popular music during World War II: using propaganda to boost morale of the American public. This program was made possible through a generous Humanities to Go grant from the New Hampshire Humanities Council.
Guest presenter Calvin Knickerbocker, American music historian told the audience of over 100 that World War II brought about a government-sponsored drive to unify the country and increase morale both at home and abroad in the military. Over 2100 songs relating to the war and home front efforts were written with those goals in mind. Focusing on these songs, Calvin played over 35 recording excerpts, some well known and others obscure, to explore the historical era and the changes this music wrought in the culture.
Knickerbocker explained that the reason for so many songs being written at this time was that they were easy to play and hear with the advent of the radio, juke box and phonographs. The Office of War Information had backed this effort in order to inspire a generation in its struggle to victory in America's second most costly conflict.
Calvin played excerpts from such inspiring songs as "God Bless America" by Kate Smith; patriotic songs such as "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" by Kay Kaiser, "Let's Remember Pearl Harbor" by Sammy Kaye, "Buy A Bond" by Bing Crosby, and "Blue Birds" by Kate Smith. Other artists noted were: Spike Jones, Dick Haynes, Hoagie Carmichael, Glenn Miller, Vaughn Monroe, Elmer Grit and Carson Robinson.
In addition to the recordings, Knickerbocker displayed an extensive collection of sheet music part of which had been given to him by a member of an audience of a program like this one that he had presented earlier.
Looking at these titles, I could recall about half of them and their respective artists. He said, following his presentation, that he had been presenting this program for over 7 years and this was the 46th time that he had done this particular show. It was nice to see that some of those tunes that were written in this time period are still being played over 65 years later.