Remembering various sheet music from the wartime on Grandma Koftan's piano, I went through my collection (which, of course, includes hers) and found several. Expressly patriotic were "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere," with a man holding his hat over his heart under the flag;"Wait for Me Mary," with a man's hand starting a letter on military stationery; a photo of Kate Smith (whose voice and size Mom was frequently compared to) on "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in Ireland," her famous anthem, "God Bless America," never not popular and now used for New York seventh innings; a photo of Bing Crosby superimposed over "The White Cliffs of Dover"; a flag-decorated dancing couple in front of a giant V on Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne's "Vict'ry Polka"; a movie photo of Deanna Durbin and Joseph Cotten on "Say a Pray'r for the Boys Over There." "Paper Doll" is mentioned and sung in the background during the moving Ken Burns GI documentary tribute, and I have that, with a mention of the Mills Bros. recording and a large photo of a very young Frank Sinatra on the cover. Similarly, a GI ammo relay line in The War sings, "Little Brown Jug," actually a post-Civil War song made popular all over again by Glenn Miller's big band in that Big Band Era, his the most associated with the war, Miller's being a Major and playing at military bases. Glenn Miller was born in nearby Clarinda, Iowa, where they have a Glenn Miller Festival, and his music is frequently on the Burns soundtrack, including "Moonlight Serenade," which I have the sheet music for, with a large picture of Miller on the cover, remembering Mom thought it was his most famous song. Certainly it was her favorite of his many hits ( besides the two mentioned, "Pennsylvania 6-5000," "In the Mood," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Tuxedo Junction"), and a later movie with Jimmy Stewart as the musician was tremendously popular. (Miller's 1944 death remains a disputed mystery.) I also have "The Shrine of St. Cecilia," with a date of 1940 but six bombers in formation flying off the cover over a bombed-out city.
Bing Crosby sang several wartime hits which became evergreens, so Gramma had the original sheet music of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (sung in the 1942 movie, Holiday Inn), "I'll Be Home for Christmas (If Only in My Dreams)," 1943, with a photo of Bing Crosby, and "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral, That's an Irish Lullaby," with photos of Rise Stevens and Bing Crosby from the 1944 movie, Going My Way. I also have "Together," with the topnotch cast of the 1944 wartime tearjerker, Since You Went Away, on the cover, though DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson's song was composed earlier (1928); up for several Oscars, only the music won. I still remember crying over Robert Walker's death, which the song forever after reminded me of.
Two other very popular wartime songs I have were "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" of 1944, and Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In," with the cast of the 1944 movie, Hollywood Canteen, across the cover. And I very much remember the three songs from the first great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, 1943's Oklahoma, "Fern Koftan" written on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're in Love," and "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top."
The wartime also had several nonsense songs, such as "The Hut Sut Song," but the most popular one was a delight to us children, the refrain running, "Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey, a kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?" And, yes, initially it was a mysterious riddle to me till Mom, laughing, sang it decoded, as it were.
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