Our Past Is Present December 20, 2018

December 20, 2018

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            Today we continue with “Christmas Activities in the 1940s.” Again, this information was taken from a series of articles written by Gaylynn Childs, our former Executive Director of the Geary County Historical Society. She used this material for a presentation titled “A Century’s Worth of Christmas”, which was presented at the Museum on December 2, 1999.

            “The Yuletide Festival of 1941 featured the music of American composers and arrangers and a huge choir of more than 400 voices sang “The Hallelujah Chorus” from the “Messiah” in a packed Municipal Auditorium.  The singers were accompanied by the high school orchestra and brass ensemble. 

            Recreation centers and USO’s were gearing up to meet the needs of soldiers far away from home at holiday time.  When 5 inches of snow fell on Christmas Eve, it assured a “Christmas Card perfect” setting.  A holiday dance with girls from Junction City, Salina and Kansas City was planned for all the soldiers.  USO touring groups performed popular music of the day.

            As the war progressed, this scene was repeated over and over in Junction City as we sought to keep the soldiers happy and content during their brief stay in Kansas.  The holiday music of Irving Berlin and other composers of the era served as a poignant reminder that someday soon the war would be over and our soldiers could truly come “Home For Christmas”.

            And that’s our story today on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.