The Home Front: How America Heard the War

The War's Voices

Broadcast and Commercial Recordings of Speeches and Interviews of World War II-era Personalities.

Winning the Home Front

War-related Entertainment, Propaganda, and Ads Targeting World War II-era Radio Listeners.

G.I. Jive

Popular and Topical Songs of World War II.

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

USO Shows, Armed Forces Radio, V-Discs, and Other Morale Efforts Targeting the Military.

We Interrupt This Program

War Reports, News Flashes, and Informational Programs Regarding World War II.

Now Hear This

World War II-era Broadcast and Recording Technology.

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As the home front effort shifted into high gear and military campaigns intensified overseas, radio played the supporting part in keeping the two in touch. Uniformed men and women marched to the pulse of popular songs, got watery-eyed with the "Duke" and "Swee' Pea," and related tales of love, war, and life back home. Furthermore, the role of women - factory worker, nurse, and pin-up girl - grew more vital to victory on the frontlines. From comedy to mystery, the enlisted followed every facet of home-front flavor: pin-ups and perfume, Bing and baseball, fleeting romance, and conversational caveats.

The nine songs presented here come from the 78 rpm and LP disc collections in the Marr Sound Archives.

Song #1
It's hard to imagine Christmas without Bing Crosby's relaxed, baritone voice resonating from the radio. The prolific performer waxed dozens of best-selling records, but none approached the staying power of "White Christmas." The perennial favorite first appeared in the Crosby film Holiday Inn and charted nearly every year after for two decades! Crosby's incomparable reading of the Irving Berlin song served as a heartfelt reminder to servicemen of life back home; and, according to writer Budd Fielding White, Crosby's all-American persona caused one G.I. to dub the entertainer "Uncle Sam without whiskers." The original 1942 recording was reissued heavily, but this V-Disc offering - lifted from a 1946 "Philco Radio Time" broadcast - gave troops a fresh take on a holiday classic.

Song #2
Founded in 1941, the United Service Organizations (USO) established a network of homes away from home for on-leave members of the U.S. armed forces. Spearheaded by the Salvation Army, the YMCA and YWCA, the National Jewish Welfare Board, the National Catholic Community Service, and the Travelers Aid Association of America, the volunteer-based organization utilized locales from clubs to churches and provided recreation from dancing to religious counsel. Perhaps the most famous of these spots was the Stage Door Canteen in New York, with a reputation for all-star entertainment and passing trysts. The notable hangout found itself the subject of the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen, while the 1943 Irving Berlin musical This Is The Army featured the song "I Left My Heart At The Stage Door Canteen." Kenny Baker, who starred in the film, recorded this version of the song about a fleeting romance at the esteemed USO establishment.

Song #3
From 1942 to 1947, William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello entertained radio audiences with their Thursday night comedy program on the NBC network. For U.S. servicemen stationed around the world, any snippets of comic relief - whether live or recorded - allayed the tensions of war. On this V-Disc recording extracted from one of their radio shows, Abbott & Costello engage in a tangled shtick about America's favorite pastime, spawning the now famous question: Who's on first? The rapid-fire exchange and perfect comedic timing of the duo's "Baseball Routine" proved to be a military favorite even among the fairest of sports fans.

Song #4
"Peggy, The Pin-Up Girl" showcased a fine-tuned Glenn Miller group and indicated yet another role women adopted during the war. Stationed at Yale University, Miller and the 418th Army Air Force Band set the standard for military entertainment with their Saturday radio show, I Sustain The Wings. Based on positive reception to six test programs recorded at Yale's Woolsey Hall and aired locally over WEEI Boston, the band began coast-to-coast transmissions in mid-July 1943. The V-Disc recording presented here comes from an April 29, 1944 broadcast and features Ray McKinley and the Crew Chiefs on vocals. For servicemen, the song symbolized a popular trend for weathering the war; for women, the pin-up phenomenon added beauty to the brains and brawn already in their wartime arsenal.

Song #5
Based on the popular book series, this transcription disc from the United States Office of War Information originated from a radio reenactment of the Ellery Queen story "The Wounded Lieutenant." Among the studio guests were two "arm chair detectives," who tested their sleuthing skills in a familiar game of what, when and where. Listeners to the broadcast could collect their own clues and attempt to solve the mystery before the show's ace detective cracked the case. The studio guests and audience challenge embodied the interactive spirit of radio and helped drive home the moral of the mystery: "careless talk costs lives."

Song #6
This personal account from France made its way back to WDAF Kansas City shortly after V-E Day. The lead-based instantaneous cut disc captured the voice of First Lt. Gladys Fitzgerald of the 750th Evacuation Hospital in a brief interview about her years served and life back home in Marshall, MO. Without the intimacy that radio lent such broadcasts, the dry question-and-answer format might have passed merely as a back page profile story in a Midwest newspaper.

Song #7
"Which Of The Great Forty-Eight" asked what enlisted men and women ostensibly wanted to know first about their uniformed colleagues. A geography test of sorts, this Mildred Bailey V-Disc singled out every homesick American from Omaha Beach to Okinawa as it included each state name in the lyrics to the song. Alaska and Hawaii are noticeably absent from the litany of locations, joining the stars and stripes in 1959 as the 49th and 50th states, respectively.

Song #8
Released by the Armed Forces Radio Service as part of its Spotlight Bands series, "Minnie's In The Money" assured servicemen both of the efficiency of the home front machine and of its moneymaking workers. The need for able-bodied recruits during World War II provided the perfect forum for women to hone their professional skills and to demonstrate their value in the country's workforce. A rare vocal by Benny Goodman punctuates this September 25, 1943 radio broadcast of the bandleader and his orchestra.

Song #9
"He was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head and his in mine," said Duke Ellington of his longtime writing partner, Billy Strayhorn. Nicknamed "Swee' Pea," the composer, arranger, and second pianist in the Ellington band matched the bandleader's musical vision and knack for memorable compositions. He penned the Duke's theme song, "Take The 'A' Train," and colored the band's songbook with a sensitivity to melody, words, and harmony equaled only by Ellington himself. This 1945 V-Disc recording, "Perfume Suite," illustrates the magic of their near-thirty-year collaboration, guiding lovelorn troops through a fragrant journey "to capture the character a woman seems to take on wearing perfume."

Text by Kelly McEniry, Marr Sound Archives
Digital Audio by Scott Middleton, Marr Sound Archives

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