Spitball Army

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

The sidewalk on the Richard Arrington Blvd. bridge, Birmingham, Alabama, as seen on 6 April 2011.  There’s some crazy parallax thing going on here…do you see it?

[Postcard picturing Hotel Vancouver at Vancouver, British Columbia,Canada.  Postmarked on 6 August 1941 at 6 p.m. at Vancouver, B.C.  Addressed to Miss Crystal K, Berwyn, Ilinois, U.S.A.]

Hi Kiddle,

                Well, we arrived here in Vancouver at 9:00 P.S.T.  The ride through the mountains on a special observation car was beautiful, but it made writing your letter very difficult.  This is the best hotel in town, in which we had a wonderful breakfast and lunch.  We sail at 9:00.

Thinking of you,
Dick

I ask for ten bags of the cheap top soil. That’s “less expensive,” I am advised. He’s right: there are still things cheaper than dirt.

Card is titled: “West Boston Bridge across Charles River Basin, showing Boston Skyline, Boston, Mass. / B-13.”

Circa 1938-1945.

Printed on back of postcard:

WEST BOSTON BRIDGE ACROSS CHARLES RIVER BASIN
This picture shows the Charles River Basin and the West Boston or Longfellow Bridge.  The West End and Beacon Hill sections are impressive with the new Suffolk County Courthouse and the Custom House dominating the skyline.

Publishing information: “A ‘Colourpicture’ Publication, Boston 15, Mass., U.S.A. / 16212.”

In the first several decades when radio was the popular medium, the music played through it was often influenced greatly by the events of the day.  This was especially true during the years of the Second World War.  Whether addressing current events directly (as in “Shhh, It’s a Military Secret”) or suggesting the tone of the country more generally with sentiment (“I Don’t Want to Walk Without You”) or suggestions (“Straighten Up and Fly Right”), the collection of songs below gives a much clearer impression of those times than, say, Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” describes the present.

Approximate playing time: 58 minutes.

1. The Andrews Sisters  “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”
2. Al Dexter  “Who’s Gonna Love You When I’m Gone”  (1943)
3. Glenn Miller  “(I’ve Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo”  (1942)
4. Harry Roy  “The Sailor with the Navy Blue Eyes”  (1942)
5. Jerry Stuart  “This is the Army, Mr. Jones”
6. Nat “King” Cole  “Straighten Up and Fly Right”  (1943)
7. Dinah Shore  “Three Little Sisters”  (1942)
8. The Andrews Sisters  “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else But Me)”  (1942)
9. Betty Jane Rhodes  “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You”  (1942)
10. Gene Autry  “At Mail Call Today”  (1945)
11. Helen Forrest with Dick Haymes  “I’ll Buy that Dream”  (1945)
12. The Ink Spots  “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat”  (1941)
13. Guy Lombardo  “Bell Bottom Trousers”  (1945)
14. Noel Coward  “Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans”  (1943)
15. The Sons of the Pioneers  “Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima”  (1945)
16. Spike Jones  “You’re a Sap, Mister Jap”
17. Ella Mae Morse  “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet”  (1944)
18. Glenn Miller  “Shhh, It’s a Military Secret”
19. The Four Vagabonds  “Rosie the Riveter”
20. The Four Clefs  “V-Day Stomp”  (1945)
21. Jo Stafford  “Long Ago (and Far Away)”  (1944)

In fact, if you compare the popular musical culture between the eras of World War II, the Vietnam War, and the current three wars (Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya), you might find stark differences in how the conflicts are portrayed in song.  In a nutshell, during World War II, there was an overwhelming support for and involvement in the majority of wartime activities (see playlist above); during the Vietnam era, there were many more songs protesting the war than in favor of it (Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” immediately comes to mind, vs. Johnny Wright & Kitty Wells’ resigned but pro-war “Hello Vietnam,” which was used to potent anti-war effect in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket); and, aside from some country & western songs that most likely exist, I know of no popular songs that address the military conflicts of today.  This could make a fun study for some academic somewhere, someday, if it hasn’t already.

In this clip from Full Metal Jacket, new recruits are shorn, as sheep to be led to a potential slaughter, accompanied by the strains of “Hello Vietnam:”

[Postcard picturing Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier, Banff National Park, Canada.  Approximate mailing date: 5 August 1941.  Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Ilinois, U.S.A.]

Hi Kiddle,

                This is that lake I spoke about in the letter.

Rick

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

Seen on the Richard Arrington Blvd. bridge in Birmingham, Alabama, on 6 April 2011.

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

As seen from the Richard Arrington Blvd. bridge in Birmingham, Alabama, on 6 April 2011.

[Letter postmarked on 6 August 1941.  Addressed to Miss Crystal K., Berwyn, Ilinois.  Return addressed to Richard N., Riverside, Illinois.  Letter written on letterhead of Canadian Pacific Hotels, Chateau Lake Louise, Lake Louise, Alberta.]

Aug. 5, 1941

Hi Hon,

     I am wondering how you have been and what you have been doing. I guess I can’t find out because I inquired about a forward address and have been told by our tour man that it would be very difficult to make a connection of some sort. I repeat: I am starved for some word from you. It would help this loneliness ever so much.

     We reached Banff at 10 o’clock Mountain Standard Time; that is two hours behind yours. This was Monday. Took a bus ride around the surrounding mountains and then went to the hotel. It was, I repeat, beautiful. I hope you receive the card I sent you immediately upon our arrival. Then we had a supper lunch in the hotel and took a walk downtown and returned to the hotel. We left at 4:00 by bus to Lake Louise. The trip was also beautiful. It is a distance of 41 miles with many points of interest.

     This Lake Louise is prettier than Banff. We arrived at 8:00. We took a bath and then went down to dinner. The massive dining room overlooked the beautiful lake and mountains – a scene that could be framed. As we were finishing our dinner, a full moon began to rise over the mountains and reflected in the blue chrystal clear water of the lake. Honey, I was going mad with want of you. Let me repeat – I certainly missed you something terrible. We finished dinner and walked around a little and retired about 10:30 because we had to get up early this morning – and I mean early. I was up at 7 o’clock and had breakfast and at 9:00 we were on a bus riding around seeing all the points of interest. Because of the mountains, the buses are convertibles, so I was pretty much at home but I still miss my convert and you. At 1:00, we again boarded the train and had lunch, and then started in on your letter. Since yesterday morning at 9:00, we have been in the mountains and will be till we reach the coast. My penmanship is none too good and this rocking train in the mountains doesn’t help in the least, does it?

     The only reason for my not writing a letter sooner is because I couldn’t find any paper. (Incidently, at this minute we are passing through a 5-mile tunnel.) I am happy in finding some stationery. I hope you have been getting my cars because I have been writing every day. Let me tell you, I almost missed the train twice mailing your cards, and I’m not fooling.

     The first day and a half was a train ride, so there is not much to tell. (Just got out of the tunnel.) As I said, it was all flat and no change in scenery and not much to tell. (An R.A.F. boy of 19 years old just passed through and I just finished a big international chat on the air force with him. He was very interesting, too. He really has a soft job, and sees his girl every night till 10:30 and 2:00 two nights a week and gets paid for it. I have flown 15 hours more than he has. Some guy you have – hey, gal?

     To-morrow we get into Vancouver at 6:00 in the morning, shop in the morning, and go sight-seeing in the afternoon because the shops are closed. In the evening, we finally board the boat for the north. I don’t know when you will get my mail off of the boat, so don’t blame me for any delay, Hon.

     Well, I can’t think of any thing else to say except to repeat that I miss you terribly, Hon, and be a good girl and think of me a little.

With all my love,
Dick

Nipped by a neighbor’s dog through the fence; mistakenly chopped a frog in half with a garden hoe; discovered a new resident in the birdhouse.