Living In A Post-War Predicament – December 13, 1947

People behaving badly for good reason.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: News for Dec. 13, 1947

News for this day was predominated by the goings on in Europe. Primarily over the Foreign Ministers Conference in London, which wasn’t going as well as expected. But also, news of civil unrest throughout all of Europe brought on by strikes, shortages and corruption.

News of Strikes in France, threatening to topple the government. News of the explosion in Black Market goods throughout England and the crackdowns taking place in France, Italy and elsewhere.

The big perceived threat was just how much this strife would play into the growing Communist influence throughout Europe. Would these shaky-ground governments give way to Communist takeovers as strikes and shortages continued? No one knew for sure. There were signs of pessimism permeating the Conference. The question of Germany and re-unification was once again brought up, but considered a non-starter to the Soviets. The question of reparations from Germany was of more importance to Moscow. How was the Marshall Plan impacting on European recovery, and was this yet another element in the growing Cold War status between East and West?

A fascinating group of reports from the European Capitols and speculations over the future by NBC correspondents via this European Roundup for December 13, 1947 (a Saturday that year).

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“Older Workers Are More Loyal, Less Absent” – December 10, 1947

The Post-War Economy was a thing of bafflement.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: News for December 10, 1947

On this day in 1947 it was revealed in a study of businesses that yes, older workers were more reliable than their younger counterparts. Loyalty and sick days were a big factor.

If we knew then what we know now . . .

In other news, for this tenth day of December in 1947. The Cold War was rearing it’s head in a lot of different places. The most notable being at the Foreign Ministers Conference in London, where Russia presented a demand of $ 10 Billion in reparations from Germany after the War. The subject of Communism and “The Red Scare” was also pondered in relation to the upcoming 1948 Presidential elections. And the “Red Influence” was being looked at by the government of Prime Minister Robert Schuman in France. They had recently concluded a series of crippling strikes around the country and were looking to prevent a recurrence in the future.

The Middle-East was continuing its flare ups, since reparations went into effect the previous week. An Arab attack on a Jewish settlement resulted in 3 Jewish deaths. British troops were called in to patrol the “no-man’s land” between Arab and Jewish settlements in Palestine. Tensions were on the increase.

And a pending strike by workers at Western Union was raising eyebrows all over Capitol Hill.

That, and so much more from this December 10th edition of News Of The World for 1947.

The Marshall Plan: Preview Of Coming Attractions – Slouching Towards Thanksgiving – Novembr 26, 1947

How the Political Cartoon community viewed The Marshall Plan in 1947.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: News for November 26, 1947

News for this day in November of 1947 had to do with a preview of The Marshall Plan and what was expected to be reaction by both the public and Capitol Hill. There was a lot riding on it and cautious eyes were waiting for the outcome.

It was also Thanksgiving week, this week in 1947. Anticipation of the Holiday and news regarding the annual Santa Claus Lane Parade in Hollywood attempted to overshadow the other news; more scandals, disasters at sea and conditions in the Post-War World.

Just another November 26th – as presented by The Alka-Seltzer News Of The World for November 26, 1947.

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Fran Warren (With Claude Thornhill And His Orch.) – 1947 – Nights At The Roundtable

Fran Warren – Transitioning from the Big Band Era to become a Pop music staple in the 1950’s.

Click on the link here for Audio Player: As Long As I’m Dreaming – Claude Thornhill Orch with Fran Warren 1947

Jumping back into Big Band territory, after an extended hiatus (for no good reason). Tonight it’s the legendary Fran Warren with the equally legendary Claude Thornhill in a 1947 track cut for the Lang-Worth Transcription company, As Long As I’m Dreaming.

Fran Warren made several sides for the Thornhill aggregation before heading into solo territory in 1948. Her most famous song during this period was the 1947 hit, A Sunday Kind Of Love.After leaving the Thornhill band she wound up on several labels, including RCA Victor and MGM and had a string of hits during the early 1950’s.

These sessions cut for Lang-Worth are interesting as they didn’t get that much circulation at the time (being for radio programming and all, and not for commercial release) and often feature music that wasn’t recorded in any other form.

Always something new to discover or look at what you might have missed or overlooked.

A Delicate Madness – July 23, 1947

The political winds in Paris were blowing in an Easterly direction.

Click on the Link: News for July 23, 1947

News for this July 23rd in 1947 had to do with the delicate balance being struck throughout Europe, and fears the unity was falling apart. The Big Three Conference was underway with discussions regarding the proposed Marshall Plan and the work-slowdown by Coal Miners in the Ruhr Valley of Germany and the fear generated from France that Germany’s industrial revival would lead to a return to German nationalism. The Communist Party in France was gaining a strong foothold in French society and the concern was the current government in Paris would topple, being replaced by a Communist one with leanings towards Moscow.

The Coal production from the Ruhr Valley was crucial in the reconstruction of Europe and the work slowdown meant much needed shipments of coal weren’t coming, and that the U.S. was now having to ship some 35 million tons in order to aid the crisis.

While the Big 3 Conference was tackling the crucial issues in Europe, life on Capitol Hill was far from sublime and the scheduled recess until September left a lot of issues hanging. Talk of a scandal brewing in the area of Withholding Tax by companies, with many companies not turning over the taxed income to the government. A housing crisis was developing in California over Migrant workers and government funding to continue providing shelter for farm workers was to stop on September 30th. Already, there were some 30,000 homeless migrants camped out along highways in California’s Central Valley. If nothing was done to reverse the deadline, the number of homeless would grow substantially higher.

Meanwhile, Georgia was awash with tobacco on the occasion of the annual auction which brought farmers from all over the state looking for good prices. The prices fluctuated over the course of the day, but it was a yearly ritual nonetheless.

All that, and a lot more, from this broadcast of NBC’s News Of The World for July 23, 1947.

Sir Thomas Beecham And The Royal Philharmonic In Concert – 1947 – Past Daily Weekend Gramophone

Sir Thomas Beecham – A sort of Musical Graham Norton.

Click on the link: BBC – Sir Thomas Beecham – 1947

To the heavy, cumbersome, oversized BBC Transcriptions this week for a concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra led by the legendary and amiable Sir Thomas Beecham in an all-Mozart program, recorded on April 28, 1947.

Starting off with the Overture to The Magic Flute and then to the Divertimento Number 2 and the Piano concerto Number 19 featuring Betty Humby Beecham, piano and ending with the Overture to The Marriage of Figaro.

All peppered with witty asides, insights and observations by Sir Thomas himself. So even if you aren’t a particularly big fan of Mozart, or old recordings, just knowing the Marriage of Figaro Overture was known as “The Egg Boiler” is worth the price of admission alone.

The rest is historic icing on the cake.