You wanted to talk about something else?
Yeah. I guess facing the war was a big part of growing up.
World War 2.
Right. You remembered.
Of course, I wasn’t old enough to fight in it. I was 11 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That was December 7, 1941. And Germany jumped in right after that. So I wanted to talk about the effects of the war on the homefront.
Okay.
The first thing I noticed was how quickly people wanted to disassociate themselves from those two countries. Germany and Japan.
First, there was a place in town that had been called The Brau Haus. I don’t know German, but I think that translates to brew house. Or beer hall. Something like that.
Well, they were afraid of a negative reaction to a German name. So they changed the name to The Baldwin House.
Too bad.
Yeah. Also, there was a candy store we would go to. Sold ice cream too. And newspapers. The owner had a German-sounding name. But he was quick to point out to anyone who would listen that his name was Dutch, not German. Kind of sad that he had to do that.
And then there was the song.
What was that?
I first heard it on the radio. Do you know the song “Beyond the Blue Horizon”?
I think so.
It was an oldie. Meant to be inspiring. “Beyond the blue horizon lies a rising sun.” You know. Sunrise. The start of a new day. New opportunities. Like that.
And?
Well, it so happens that Japan was known as The Land of the Rising Sun. The symbol was even on its flag.
So the music industry got nervous. And anytime someone sang the song they sang “lies a setting sun.” A setting sun? Really? End of the day. Tired. Go to bed. Where’s the inspiration in that?
Not so much, I guess.
That went on until the end of the war in 1945. Then they switched lyrics back to the original.
Hey. Next time I’ll talk about some more effects of the war.
Okay. See you then.