Popular Culture in Edmonton During the Second World War
David Leonard
Reprinted with permission of the author and publisher of For King and Country: Alberta in the Second World War;)
During the war, people in Edmonton did not often travel very far, due to gasoline and rubber rationing, but they did move about more energetically within their own community. Indeed, Edmonton was a city distinctly on the move, with soldiers marching, office workers scurrying in the streets, and blue-collar workers and labourers alike evincing an earnestness seldom displayed before. During 1942, Blatchford Field became the busiest airport on the North American continent. In Edmonton, unemployment practically came to an end, as virtually anyone who wanted a job had one. All employment was regarded as a contribution to the national cause; hardly anyone wished to convey the impression that he or she was not doing their utmost, albeit indirectly, for the purpose of the war. "Don't you know there's a war going on?" became the most common cliché of the day whenever an excuse was needed or a price questioned.
The intensity of the work-a-day world created a lively social scene. In fact, the nightlife of Edmonton was never livelier. Nightclubs like The Barn, the Danceland Ballroom, the Tivoli Ballroom, the Night Owl Cabaret, the Trocadero and the Army, Navy and Airforce Club did a roaring business, featuring performers like Gaby Haas, King Gannam and Tipp's Orchestra. Edmonton now had twelve cinemas, and they were almost always full; several began operating in the early hours of the morning to satisfy shift workers. Sports continued to draw much attention, especially in the summer. A city baseball league was formed consisting of the Hornets, Arrows, Dodgers and Yanks, the latter comprised entirely of Americans. On 4 July 1943, Renfrew Park saw its largest attendance ever. The renewed ability of people to enjoy themselves was coupled with a desire to escape temporarily from the overwhelming public preoccupation with the war. Even then, escape was difficult as so much of the popular entertainment was wrapped up in wartime themes.
In the canteens, restaurants, nightclubs and dance halls of Edmonton, people were exposed to American popular music as never before. In general, the sentiments expressed in most American popular songs of the day were sufficiently in tune with Canadian sentiments to make them acceptable locally. The fact that popular band leaders like Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw joined the service no doubt made their music even more acceptable. Those songs directly addressing war situations nonetheless did so from an American perspective. Songs like Remember Pearl Harbor, He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings and I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen all made the hit parade and were much heard in Edmonton. On the country side, There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere, Silver Dew on the Bluegrass Tonight, and Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima Isle were all popular in the city, but were not songs to which the average Edmontonian could directly relate. The most popular songs about the war appear to have been those which addressed the conflict indirectly, such as I'll Be Seeing You and White Christmas, easily the most popular song of the war.6
Certain British popular songs not on the American hit parade were quite popular in Alberta, particularly ones popularized by Vera Lynn. We'll Meet Again and Run Rabbit, Run were popular in Edmonton, but only marginally so in the United States. White Cliffs of Dover was the most popular British song in America during the war years; in fact, on 13 December 1941 it became the first war song to make the American hit parade. It rose to "number one" on 10 January and remained at or near the top for ten weeks. This was the only British song to be extremely popular in the United States during the war, although When the Lights Go On Again All Over the World was made popular by British as well as American vocalists.
From December 1941 until the end of 1942, at least one song speaking directly about the war was on the American, and therefore the Canadian, hit parade each week. Some, such as Johnny Doughboy, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition and This is Worth Fighting For spoke directly of war activity and patriotic concerns. Most, however, concerned a girl's loneliness at a lover's departure; Miss You and Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree were the most popular of these.
As the war continued, it brought a subtle change to the nature of American popular music. The disruption of family life encouraged greater nostalgia, and the more driving music of the early big band era gradually gave way to greater sentimentality. In addition, a musicians' strike from October 1942 to March 1944 brought about a scarcity of big band music in general. January 1943 saw virtually no lively music on the hit parade at all, aside from Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition. The most popular songs of this period were White Christmas, Moonlight Becomes You and There Are Such Things.
During 1943 war songs became fewer. During the entire month of March not one song on the hit parade spoke of the war, although You'd be so Nice to Come Home To indirectly implied a circumstance of the war. Of the war songs released that summer and fall, the most popular were Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer and They're Either Too Young or Too Old. It was as though people were growing tired of the war occupying their leisure time and reminding them of the actual or possible death, injury or imprisonment of a loved one. Over the winter of 1943-44, the songs from the musical Oklahoma, evoking a nostalgia for the innocence and simple ideals of the romantic American West, dominated the hit parade. During 1944, nostalgia and sentimentality continued to be the order, with I'll Be Seeing You and Long Ago and Far Away topping the charts that summer. During that fall, I'll Walk Alone was easily the most popular song on the continent.
Over the winter of 1944-45, it gradually became apparent that the Allies were winning the war, and in popular music a more positive note came to the fore. The Trolley Song, Accentuate the Positive and Don't Fence Me In topped the charts that winter. During the spring, the positive tone continued as I'm Beginning to See the Light, Candy and My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time were the most popular. Sentimentality was not dead, for families were still fragmented and separated, and casualties on the battlefield still a reality. The summer of 1945 saw Dream and Sentimental Journey top the charts. When the war finally ended, however, the number one song was It's Been a Long, Long Time.
Notes
6.All conclusions regarding the popularity of particular songs are based on the weekly listings for Your Hit Parade, which was compiled from surveys of record and sheet music sales, and the volume of requests made to national disc jockeys. The surveys were undertaken by the advertising agency, Batton, Barton, Durstine and Osborne. See John R. Williams, This Was Your Hit Parade [Rockland, Maine: Courier-Gazette, 1973]. See also Nat Shiparo, Popular Music, Vol. 2 (The 1940s), [New York: Adrian Press, 1965].