"Father Knickerbocker", Washington Irving, New York and Quite The Stir Bungalow?

It is a special and sacred privilege,... my fellow Bungalow enthusiasts, lovers of history, all things Gettysburg being both great and small, intermingled with a few New York attitudes or so... to recount the following history, myth or legend! Hubba, Hubba!

As you grow more curious by the moment...allow what follows not to be a digression or an irreverence of the truth. Rather let us venture to remind you that the history and lore we will share, in picturesque methods and written word, are derived from bits and pieces gleaned by bits and pieces with a (quite frankly) incurable romantic at the helm of this unraveling, unwinding, revealing, revelling and de-fragging a bit of history!

Our research began, in earnest, by attempts to discover the first resident of Quite The Stir Bungalow. It was in research that we understood the following story’s true scale of irony, which made it even more amazing touching and whimsical!

Shall we begin to connect New York, Washington Irving, only one of the legends of American literature ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow""A History of New York" and "Rip Van Winkle")"Father Knickerbocker" and Gettysburgs' Quite The Stir Bungalow? Well, I'll venture, by the gleam in your eyes...yes!

Father Knickerbocker, The Legend and the Myth

Actually, the first Knickerbocker was a real person, as far as scant account reveals to us. Harmen Jansen Knikkerbakker (later Knickerbocker) migrated to the newly renamed English colony of New York some time in 1674.

Knickerbocker is a Dutch surname and references the oldest of New Yorker families, for the most part of Dutch origins, and very likely among the first socially prominent families of New York. Many are the generations of New Yorkers, in particular, and Knickerbocker kin who proudly claimed to be descendants of Father Knickerbocker, despite his beginning and no doubt to the contrary, fictional roots. Yes, Father Knickerbocker was once a revered and rivaled "symbol" of old NY, and sometimes known as the equivalent of Uncle Sam, claimed as forefather of many a Knickerbocker!

However, in all actuality (as best we can surmise)again for the history and anals of New York, Father Knickerbocker was the fictional character of Washington Irving, who wrote under the nom de plume of Dietrich Knickerbocker the book, History of New-York .

Through Washington Irvings' writings (1809, and other succesive stories), the image of a benign father figure captured the cities imagination! The city's most popular symbol of the late 19th and early 20th centuries "Father Knickerbocker", was characterized with cotton wig, three-cornered hat, buckled shoes, and, knickered pants.

A part of creating lore and mystique arose in NY.

In summarization, indeed there seems to be abundant proof, that there existed a beautiful bit of nonsense, surrounding "Father Knickerbocker" all rooted into a captive and disconcerting compromise of truth!

Searching through scattered accounts, disturbing historical/comedic mention and great gaps of actual accounts of reference to Father Knickerbocker, some untenable chronicals, fiction (or not!), illustrations, imagination flights of fantasy and daydreamers... history re-affirmed and further cemented that "Father Knickerbocker" is a mythical NY Legend based in real life. Shock value and applause here.

Quite The Stir Bungalow, New York, Washington Irving, and "Father Knickerbocker"?

Washington Irving, New York, "Father Knickerbocker", the 1930s and 1940s, and Gettysburgs' Quite The Stir Bungalow? Whatever do they have in common?

Follow along as we re-tell a tall tale, (which may not be quite so tall, after all!), unravel a web, and unwind a yarn...coming soon, VERY SOON!

Hubba, Hubba!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas in Gettysburg, PA!

THIS JUST IN FROM OUR RADIO SPONSORS...

THE SOUNDS OF THE HOLIDAY DOOR DECORATING CONTEST sponsored by GCVB in historical Gettysburg, PA finds Quite The Stir Bungalow Swing Dancing, Jitterbugging, rounding the corner and nearing completion with their WWII era kitchy submission!

VISIT Gettysburg, and while you're at it... "jitterbug" on by, 500 West Middle Street for a "look see" at a Genuine Bungalow decked out for the Holidays, '40s style!

And remember, kids?...Tell Mom To Buy You Bond Bread! Hubba! Hubba!

From Creators of Quite The Stir Bungalow

We Proudly

Introduce Bungalow Radio

The era of radio voices wisped into WWII homes with regularity during the 1940s.  The Red, White and Blue American family gathered together, with kith and kin, around their living rooms and kitchens to listen to the radio news.  GI Joes or Janes and Rosie The Riveter would tune in, when time would allow, by the lights of dingy factory break room or nightly by a comforting radio glow.

Americans listened, intently, as history unfolded a swathe of grandeur or milieu of terror across radio airways.  Every man, woman and child of the 1940s was enlightened of  sorrow, joy, hope, laughter, tragedy and war. Astounding events that shaped our very lives today were sent to them yesterday.  A link to the outside world could be had by simply listening to radio and the confident assuring radio broadcasters of The Greatest Generation.

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.                                                        

                                                         General Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are not retreating -- we are advancing in another direction.
                                                                               General Douglas MacArthur

They Slipped The Surly Bonds Of Earth

Today, through gauche words that lack the lustre and polish called for, we endeavor through intent, to celebrate history! We pay homage to The Pioneers, The Women, The Wasps, and forever, The Flygirls!

Climb and soar with these Immortals of the Air! Join as we fly into dawns' bomb bursting sky 'neath the sheltered wings of history, and aside, very possibly, the greatest women pilots of all time! Even the most tacit of readers may be moved in their approval and wonder by these brave women who engaged the altitude and far reaches of the skies! Find yourselves perched high atop images painted here, through their history, and yearning to take flight alongside their labor of patriotism, love of America, their consuming passion for flight all intermingled with adventure...

The Flygirls are a classic case and embodiment of remarkable women doing remarkable jobs, in remarkable times, and under remarkable circumstances. Having the appropriate descriptive quotation on hand at this, the exactly right moment, escapes one. To that end, we offer up this powerfully poignant verse as a tribute to them.


High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Published in 1943, this is a transcription of the original manuscript in the Library of Congress

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sun-ward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air...
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor eer eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Sound off, Bring it on Down...Let's do proceed onward, thoughtfully and gingerly to surmise an answer to the questions that follow... Who were these whiz girls flying at 2200 hours, wearing flying jackets, helmets, gloves and goggles? They not only could fly, but indeed they tested flight! Who were they, in approaching the speed of sound more than satisfactorily by all intents and purposes, proving true Sir Isaac Newton's first law of motion which states that objects in motion will continue to move in a straight line at a constant velocity unless acted on by an outside force?

Who were these women, this cadre and cultivation of beautiful dishes, (in keeping with the 1940s ebullience of slang...hubba, hubba!) social grace and talent who remained unparalleled and displayed exemplified prodigious behavior beneath outrageously difficult contempt and misunderstanding? Why did they choose to overcome the biases and challenges of women's ability and yet were able to stand heads above others? Who were they to dismiss the timeworn idea of using women in the military prior to the start of World War II...yet, most certainly serving as pilots and using their skills to that end?

And why did these women do what they did? Because they had to? Because it was long ago by a mis-stroke of destiny implanted in their genes? Were these women, first and foremost, radicals? Or were they great women at great moments emerging upon history with their passion ignited and playing out?

These questions certainly titillate the senses of inquiry and resonate with many!

POSTING WWII FLYGIRLS SOON

Fighters of the skies....

TIMES CREATE THEIR OWN LEGENDS AND HEROES

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WHO BUT PONIED UP FOR THE LEGEND AND GALLOPED INTO AMERICAN CHILDRENS' HEARTS?   WHY THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS....THE LONE RANGER, OF COURSE! He grinned in the face of death and grinned death in the face! The Lone Ranger had grit and so can all of America..that means YOU!

The epic tall western tale had its start as a local radio show from WXYZ/Detroit and debuted in 1933 as perhaps one of radio’s best-remembered dramas, The Lone Ranger!

Although the show was aimed at young audiences, at least half of the show’s listeners were adults! Hubba!

"The Lone Ranger Tale" is now a golden classic! While donning a mask and riding a white stallion named Silver, The Lone Ranger avenges along side his very own sidekick, the white knight of native American Indians,... Tonto. The duo brought down many a dastard of the wild and wooly west with some "Silver" fast riding and some dead straight shooting! Man of mystery, masked idol of millions, with his never ending supply of silver bullets and one singular goal! That goal? To avenge evil-doers of the West and provide law and justice to guileless, hard-working cattle drivers and marms like you and me wasting away in rustlers' gulch!

Mystery and illusion intrigued, and "by cowboy howdie", The Lone Rangers' appeal of legendary words, along with black eyed mask did indeed intrigue raspy radio listeners and static television viewers! What a swell ride everyone all enjoyed in The Lone Rangers hey day!

Now entrenched in American vocabulary and a spontaneous tribute to the imagination, memories and wishful thinking of Americans, Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” heard a heyday ago and still known today, assures everyone within hearing distance that the masked legend, "The Lone Ranger" was and still is somewhere on the elusive American front and on the job! “A fiery horse with the speed of light! A cloud of dust and a hearty ‘Hi-Yo, Silver!’ The Lone Ranger!”

The pair, the iconic duo, The Lone Ranger and Tonto enjoy a powerfully significant presence in history, and salted the American public with words to enrapture their hearts.
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver! The Lone Ranger rides again!"

WELL, I JUST HAVE TO PLAY THIS AGAIN, GENTLE READERS!  NATURALLY!





Everywhere the public visited, there could be found The Lone Ranger appeal broadly singing and pistol whipping out for attention! Ten cents and a box top, a pledge, or a loaf of bread could buy any child The Lone Ranger immortality! And yes, there were the "Radio Premiums"! Hi Ho Silver!!!!!

One way into the American Public Heart was the offering of radio premiums! During the 1940s and onward, and over the course of many radio and television programs many radio premiums, kitchy ideas or "souveniers" were offered to viewers. (Note: Radio Premiums were supreme souvenier giveaways offered to listening/viewing audiences to entice and capture their hearts and imagination! )

Some premiums popular to viewers of The Lone Ranger were The Lone Ranger Masks, Six-Shooters, Six Shooter Rings, creed  and the Lone Ranger Deputy Badge. Some of the premiums employed a large bit of silver bullet appeal to children, others offered miniature pistols capable of emitting a shower of sparks!

And, if you are able to recall radio premiums you'll agree " to know these premiums are to love them and drive mother into virtual pandemonium until you had attained your hearts' desire of possession!"

It's important to note as an aside for history buffs and as it relates to The Lone Ranger, during World War II, the premiums offered may have adapted to the trends of society but did not lose their lustre! For example, in 1942 The Lone Ranger program offered a brand Blackout Kit and the Atomic Bomb Ring (aka the Lone Ranger Atom Bomb Ring.) This ring was a miniature spinthariscope (look it up yourselves) that had small amounts of radioisotope within to produce the scintillations caused by nuclear reactions. Upon removal of the tailfin apparatus, though, the "bomb" body bore resemblance of a silver bullet. Now what was mother thinking then?

As time would have it, and as World War II moved onward, restrictions were placed on manufacturing materials everywhere as the needs of war resources increased . What resulted was a change in premiums manufactured. Thank goodness (in some cases)! And, most every premium available took on the material element of cardboard, wood and cloth.

So, what's this all coming down to? Aside from a tribute to The Lone Ranger series, writers and producers and audience of the era and in keeping with this classic western genre theme, (phew!) I'm jumping into the saddle, but before I go, I appeal and enlighten you a bit...
The Lone Rangers' view of whitecapped mountains, eco-friendly buzzards and a heaping horizon of prickly cactus and rocky shelved cliffs of the pristine west have me virtually jumping to navigate the troubled water holes and deserts of Outlaws!

"Whether you like them or dislike them, don't you just get choked up thinking about the sizzling classic western genre of The Lone Ranger? Seriously, don't you just love the embodiment of heroism in the dashing, form fitting shirt and pant wreathed in the carbine belt and six shooters of The Lone Ranger?! Doesn't that just blow a breath of romantic tizzy your way?

Now step aside, while I lope brazenly into the deepening sunset, Quite The Stir Bungalow types! I'm looking for me some public trust, while matching wits and deterring hog tying, dog eared, snake eyed cattle rustlin varmits! What's more? While I'm at it, I'm earning my Lone Ranger Badge, my mask and Notification Code NOW! Those outlaws are going to feel the weight of my wrath as I too race toward another thrilling adventure at Quite The Stir Bungalow in Gettysburg, PA!

That being said "PARDNER" , it's familiar territory to me, but maybe stranger to some, The Lone Ranger Creed! I'm living the "creed" and conducting myself by a strict moral code. How About You?"I believe.....That to have a friend, a man must be one.
That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world. That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right. That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
That 'this government of the people, by the people, and for the people' shall live always.That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."

A word from our WXYZ Radio Sponsor: "Regularly eat Bond Bread today".

In memory and tribute to the talented actors of The Lone Ranger, in particular Clayton Moore, The Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels, Tonto-- and others who live or may have since passed on to the "Cowboy, Spur Jingling Heaven In The Wide-Eyed Red Horizon Sky" we remember Clayton Moore, in his comment summing up the series and legends : "It's the good guy in the white hat, fair play and honesty, the settling of the Old West. Don't forget the cowboys, the trials and tribulations they went through. What we have now is because of our ancestors and pioneers."

QUITE THE STIR INTRODUCES BUNGALOW RADIO

From Creators of Quite The Stir Bungalow

We Proudly

Introduce Bungalow Radio

The era of radio voices wisped into WWII homes with regularity during the 1940s.  The Red, White and Blue American family gathered together, with kith and kin, around their living rooms and kitchens to listen to the radio news.  GI Joes or Janes and Rosie The Riveter would tune in, when time would allow, by the lights of dingy factory break room or nightly by a comforting radio glow.

Americans listened, intently, as history unfolded a swathe of grandeur or milieu of terror across radio airways.  Every man, woman and child of the 1940s was enlightened of  sorrow, joy, hope, laughter, tragedy and war. Astounding events that shaped our very lives today were sent to them yesterday.  A link to the outside world could be had by simply listening to radio and the confident assuring radio broadcasters of The Greatest Generation.

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends.                                                        

                                                         General Dwight D. Eisenhower

We are not retreating -- we are advancing in another direction.
                                                                               General Douglas MacArthur

Hollywood Rapid Fire, Laser Sharp, Egotistical, Golden Era Speak!

During the 1940s, upper-crust bearing accents and intonations were the rage among American films!

American actors and actresses, politicians and socialites alike, engaged in what some described as rapid fire, laser sharp, egotistical, socialite speak. An example of this type of  vocalizing to consider is within the film "The Philadelphia Story", a product of the Golden Era of Hollywood and starring the inimitable Katherine Hepburn. Through the words and manner spoken, here was a film, among many, highly and extremely conscious (and unashamedly so) of conveying stratified social classes to Americans!

What readily comes to mind in describing the words flowing forth from this and other motion pictures of  the era are endless and the mother lode in descriptive verse! Some phrases and describing adjectives could include: Unabashedly, devastatingly witty and snobbish, the "stuff" and posh from the pedigree of privileged blue bloods! But then, we could collect adjectives for simply years in description couldn't we?

Upon closer observation, whilst listening to these remarkably skillful masters and elocutionists of film and life, one may find themselves wondering, then as now, if they're hearing any number of variations of English, Boston, Philadelphia or New York accent among noveau riche with a bit Katherine Hepburn brevity version in the mix. Whatever the case, you may find yourselves lapsing into a feeling you're a piercing observer or intruder among an enclave of artistic, wealthy and elite socialites and flowing words.

Yesterdays' public theatre-goer, Americans fascinated by "escapist film gems" and so long deprived by the War and the Great Depression, surely found the allure of opulence and manner of speech enthralling.  Having a glimpse, through motion pictures, into the lives of the American over-privileged offered a temporary reprieve from the reality of the everyday world of the era.     

Author note: Frankly, don't mean to be a bear of a bug, you know (eh, what?) but this over stylized, stinging wit and scalding mincing of words and candor,which thrilled most in the milieu of observers of movie goers during the 1940s, thrills and intrigues yet today!

Some may say history has the linguists of the era to name as progenitors of the 1940s style of speech made popular in motion pictures. Others say we may credit the collaboration and bally hoo of Hollywood and elocution coaches for the clear style of diction and affectation of speech represented in films and elsewhere througout the 1940s and still heard today.

Each and every time you utter a word, you give listeners clues of who you are and where you come from.

It is difficult to find the answer in the milieu of possibilities to the origin of the ephemeral "1940s speak". Yet as I leave you now, to enjoy a bonanza and plethora of 1940s dead-on movie portrayals, from the purely historical perspective (wink, wink),  I proudly unabashedly proclaim (speaking slowly, teeth together and round tones in pure affectation):

"It may be a "tad ovah the top deahs", nevertheless, the thawt that ah am evah so completely enthralled, to the point of neahly shaken (and devastatingly so dahling), I do not apologize for my extreme enjoy-ament of the "kind" speech occassioned of the 1940s".

Le Brigand
Contributing

PRESERVATION OF HUMAN FREEDOM, 1948

Eleanor Roosevelt

 Delivered 28 September, 1948 in Paris, France (Excerpt)

I have come this evening to talk with you on one of the greatest issues of our time -- that is the preservation of human freedom. I have chosen to discuss it here in France, at the Sorbonne, because here in this soil the roots of human freedom have long ago struck deep and here they have been richly nourished. It was here the Declaration of the Rights of Man was proclaimed, and the great slogans of the French Revolution -- liberty, equality, fraternity -- fired the imagination of men. I have chosen to discuss this issue in Europe because this has been the scene of the greatest historic battles between freedom and tyranny. I have chosen to discuss it in the early days of the General Assembly because the issue of human liberty is decisive for the settlement of outstanding political differences and for the future of the United Nations.

The decisive importance of this issue was fully recognized by the founders of the United Nations at San Francisco. Concern for the preservation and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms stands at the heart of the United Nations. Its Charter is distinguished by its preoccupation with the rights and welfare of individual men and women. The United Nations has made it clear that it intends to uphold human rights and to protect the dignity of the human personality. In the preamble to the Charter the keynote is set when it declares: "We the people of the United Nations determined...to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and...to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom." This reflects the basic premise of the Charter that the peace and security of mankind are dependent on mutual respect for the rights and freedoms of all.

One of the purposes of the United Nations is declared in article 1 to be: "to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...can't you remember?

Oh, indeed, there are some WWII veterans who can yet say, "I was there"! There are some who can yet speak those words with pride of admission "I breathed the same air and fought side by side with heroes who died for America in a patchwork of terror". Do you listen as they, nearly inaudible, tell the tales of brevity and courage and honor they realized a million lives ago? Are you uncomfortable and glance away as these weathered, aged veterans' eyes take on the glazed far away look as though they are again reliving the brim and hailstone of battlefields' horror? Are these hauntings of embracement, once again, for a battle of startling enormity and an imminent attack? Are they searching for the high tides of courage that they once experienced? 


Oh you "complacent fellows"  who fail to hear crowded reveries and recollections, by any accounts, of "old" soldiers re-telling of the "old" victories that bought your freedoms with American soldiers' lives and limbs. Do you not know that whilst brave soldiers now lie cold and sodden, in their graves for nearly seventy years, others who were permitted the grace of survival of the fierce war yet struggle to live out the final days of their lives?

What would those of the fallen warriors have known of the pleasure of love and  intimacy of  life had they, given the chance, lived the natural course of their lives? Had they been spared the expectation that war assailed upon them, would they have experienced another day to worship, to pray, to catch the Yankees game, to paste the gloss into their '47 Ford, to grab a dog at Coney Island or better yet, their sweetheart just once more?

The vastness of this war had been deemed important enough to cut short the lives of so many.

Would these hard run soldiers have lived a life of greed and parsimony of feelings at wars' end had they survived? Maybe, or maybe WWII would have left them to their own devices, shell shocked and hardened and aimless in their own lives. Maybe, there is the off chance that the sight and sounds of aching human deceit bred cruelty they'd endured during the World War II war campaigns would have seen them altered, softened or weakened to a mere shell of humanity.

We'll never know the answer to these questions, to be sure will we? There isn't enough care, by most counts, for anyone to struggle for answers to these questions if at all possible. Life goes on, sure, it's the American way. But, pray, you simply must remember these soldiers who fought and the soldiers who fought and lost their lives, some through hell and some into death!  Beneath the cooling shade of a sheltering tree, take time to listen to an excerpt and murmurs of American history. Take more than once and more than a nod to WWII soldiers on Veterans' Day. Take time to recall, other than with a hot dog and burger, the lives of others who braved terror and death paving a road of freedom for you and  I.

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month...can't you remember?

Something For The Boys

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Star Struck and Falling Hard!

So, came the war era of Broadway!  With the 1920s stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression which followed, the level of Broadway activity had dwindled as the War Era followed. The new motion picture genre had ignited the hearts and hi-jacked the imagination of the public. Broadway, for a while, was left to a smaller, still valiant, but more ardent and discerning sophisticated audience.

Yet still while the audience was smaller, today, surely and most assuredly, you'll smile and nod knowingly and familiarly at the mention of many now Iconic Broadway musicals produced during the war era! At the very least, you'll recollect the melodies of the past few, the witty, ingenious, inventive lyricists of Broadway musicals!



Many of these lyricists produced a long line of World War II-era musicals that blended a subtle choreography, punctuated with quasi to full blown, bawdy humor, and dialog intended to provide the audience with a bit of the aura from “USO Show” feelings. These musicals, from blase to suave, to sophisticated and complex, showcased some of the greatest talents that even today, still stand apart from the shadows of others who followed. These talents have withstood the true test of a timeworn art.

Why, memorable World War II melodies, borne of Broadway musicals of the 1940s, were heard by an audience of people whose husbands, fathers, sons and daughters were supporting and fighting the war campaigns! Is it any wonder one can still hear the echos nobly straining through our todays?

It was, in part, through pure Broadway talent that America was able to find inner strength and resilience and endurance during the War Era. The musicals served a lighthearted escape from all that troubled the world and reality by adding vitality and humour to the tragedy of life.

 True, the characters of these Broadway musicals, at times, could be one dimensional, downright unbelievable or believable as the case may be, to their audience. Whatever the occasion, the characters were capable of resting squarely amidst the qualitative pillars of our empathy and sentiments.

Finally, the musicals, in themselves, offered distraction and a bit of escape and yet had all the makings to produce a plethora of pride, love, sentimentality, patriotism. Why at any given moment, audiences could find themselves proud, amorous, patriotic, and joyous! And, oh yes...a bit of down home hokey was always a score! But never you mind hokey! Come now! This was America against the backdrop of WWII and anything that could go... would!

All in all, and nevertheless, the audience goers to Broadway, willingly subjected and indulged in the blurry-eyed, nostalgic tributes that, to them, unknowingly hailed another coming-of-age and post WWII America.

What were some of these provacative Musicals of the 1940s?

"Something for the Boys" with the piquant yet robust Ethel Merman in the following biting and risque innuendo excerpted from the script:

Mac: Hey Hattie?
Hattie: What Do You Want
Mac: There's four guys down here to see you.
Hattie: Only four? I must be slipping.

"Pal Joey" with the wonderful song of collaborated and grand scale "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."
"Lady in the Dark" was a work of finesse all in dream sequence!
"Oklahoma!" hailed as a unexpected surprise and resounding success to all and capable of awakening any inert lifeless soul!
"Miss Liberty" depicting the depth of meaning that Statue of Liberty held for our GI's followed by:
"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"
"Little Girl from Little Rock"
"Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend."
"Kiss Me Kate"
"Annie Get Your Gun"
"Carousel"
"Let's Face It"
"Finian's Rainbow"

Did this new Broadway that began and ended the 1940s still exalt in the hey day of activity of the once formerly prosperous pre-World War II?  History will have decided as will you, yet today.  You may just emphatically glance back to New York and Broadway and, from your safe vantage point indisputably consider this era the "all- hail-to the queen" hub of the musical world!  Why?

Broadway's last musical hit of the decade happened to be one of the biggest ever? The name? Oh you'll all recall..."South Pacific"


A note:  Frankly, though any era, there is no debating the delightfully evident appeal and stick-to-itiveness, dogged preservence and tenacity of Broadway!