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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G.I. Jive

Though the spotlight shined brighter on the stage overseas, life back home was all but uneventful during World War II. Radio transformed itself into a dramatic source of information that influenced civilian strategy with all the prudence of a well-planned attack. From rationing to women in the workplace, popular music underscored the relationship between the leisure of entertainment and the business of war as topical songs found their way to the top of radio play lists amid a two-year recording ban.

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

Song #1
As conflict unfolded, the United States government rationed common items such as shoes, butter, meat, sugar, coffee, and gasoline to conserve supplies for the war. Even the music industry was not immune to this trend: a shortage of shellac - a material used in manufacturing 78-rpm records - curtailed record production. Rubber, among the first items targeted, could be recycled and redeemed for one cent a pound at local gas stations. But what started as voluntary "scrap drives" - a subject Fats Waller alluded to in the song "Cash For Your Trash" - gave way to stringent regulation as the country funneled more and more of its resources into the war's supply tank.

Song #2, Song #3
The gender shift in the workplace illustrated how radically the war affected life on the home front. With millions of men in uniform, women were "making history, working for victory," filling vacancies at factory jobs and other male-dominated positions. "Rosie the Riveter" became an instantly recognizable icon of the slight-turned-might woman of wartime America; while the firm demand of Ella Mae Morse's "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" epitomized the growing empowerment of women as working class equals.

Song #4, Song #5
With the country's entry into World War II, racial inequality on the home front took a back seat to a unified war effort. As this sentiment defined national accord, Josh White's Southern Exposure album suggested something different: patriotism alone could not heal segregation's festering wounds. His six-song indictment ranged from inadequate housing to antiquated Jim Crow laws, while two songs - "Uncle Sam Says" and "Defense Factory Blues" - dealt directly with racism during wartime. Impressed and curious, President Roosevelt invited White to perform in person for him and the First Lady, an encounter that spawned a unique friendship and led to regular White House visits during the war years.

Song #6
On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) ordered its members to stop making records due to a royalty dispute with the major record companies. The chart topper "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition," by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra, barely made the cutoff date, recorded one day before at Columbia studios. The recording ban affected instrumentalists and, consequently, paralleled the rise of vocalists, who were not members of the musicians' union.

Song #7
The Song Spinners, an a cappella group, capitalized on this, scoring a #1 hit in the summer of 1943 with "Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer." The recording ban stretched over two years (Capitol and Decca settled within a year, while Columbia and Victor held out), crippled the already ailing big band format, and ended when the major record companies agreed to pay royalties for music played on jukeboxes and the radio.

Song #8
The AFM's strike against the major record conglomerates opened the door to small, independent recording operations that offered musicians an alternative to major label politics. With sessions as early as 1939, Savoy Records released a steady flow of music throughout the war years, specializing in swing, jump blues, gospel, and the burgeoning be-bop scene. In this June 1944 recording, Oran "Hot Lips" Page delivers a relaxed vocal and soaring trumpet work, supported by a silken alto sax solo from George Johnson. From the opening declaration, "Uncle Sam ain't no woman, but he sure can take your man," to the patriotic obbligato that concludes the song, "Uncle Sam's Blues" characterizes both a country and a record industry torn between love and war.

Song #9
First performed by Al Trace and his Silly Symphonists on radio station WOR New York, "Mairzy Doats" delighted radio fans with its nonsensical words and playful melody. Servicemen around the globe sang the catchy song and, purportedly, used its lyrical jumble as passwords. Based on a popular nursery rhyme ("Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy"), the Tin Pan Alley classic charted several times in 1944 with the Merry Macs' peppy version capturing the top spot in March.

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

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