Of Stars, Soldiers, Mothers, and Mourning

TY - CHAP

T1 - Of Stars, Soldiers, Mothers, and Mourning

AU - Brooks, William Fordyce

PY - 2019/10/1

Y1 - 2019/10/1

N2 - The entry of the United States into World War I was accompanied by a flurry of new icons and symbols for engagement, support, and commitment to the war effort. One such symbol was the "service flag", a banner to be displayed by families of which a member or members was serving overseas. Initially a simple banner bearing a blue star or stars, this was modified when servicemen began to die; a gold star replaced the blue. With blue stars, gold stars, and services flags were associated a large number of songs issued as sheet music. The differing interactions of these with other pre-existing genres, with various segments of the publishing and entertainment industries, with women's organizations formed around "gold star mothers", and with shifting cultural values and concerns, from militance through service to memorialization, illuminate both the evolution of the war in the public consciousness and the workings of the music business in a time of great transformations.

AB - The entry of the United States into World War I was accompanied by a flurry of new icons and symbols for engagement, support, and commitment to the war effort. One such symbol was the "service flag", a banner to be displayed by families of which a member or members was serving overseas. Initially a simple banner bearing a blue star or stars, this was modified when servicemen began to die; a gold star replaced the blue. With blue stars, gold stars, and services flags were associated a large number of songs issued as sheet music. The differing interactions of these with other pre-existing genres, with various segments of the publishing and entertainment industries, with women's organizations formed around "gold star mothers", and with shifting cultural values and concerns, from militance through service to memorialization, illuminate both the evolution of the war in the public consciousness and the workings of the music business in a time of great transformations.

KW - World War I

KW - Music

KW - Sheet music

KW - Memorialization

KW - Mothers

KW - Service flag

KW - Popular music

U2 - 10.5406/j.ctvqc6hsz.13

DO - 10.5406/j.ctvqc6hsz.13

M3 - Chapter

SN - 978-0-252-04270-6

SN - 978-0-252-08454-6

T3 - Music in American Life

SP - 199

EP - 223

BT - Over Here, Over There

A2 - Brooks, William

A2 - Bashford, Christina

A2 - Magee, Gayle

PB - University of Illinois Press

CY - Champaign, IL

T2 - Over Here and Over There

Y2 - 27 February 2015 through 28 February 2015

ER -