Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Any Bonds Today sheet music, 1941 |
Object Name |
Music, Sheet |
Scope & Content |
Any Bonds Today Sheet Music, 1941. This piece of sheet music appears to made of paper. The background cover of the sheet music has an old man (Uncle Sam) in a blue suit with a red bow tie in a red and white striped pants while holding his blue hat in one hand and holding a blue pamphlet in the other and standing on a white star with a blue edged background. At the top of the sheet music, in bold, the text reads "ANY BONDS TODAY". The letters in "ANY BONDS TODAY" are colored in red, white and blue starting from the top of each letter to the bottom. Below the text above, in blue and in small lettering, the text reads "words and music by Irving Berlin". The text "words and music by" are in tinier lettering than the text "Irving Berlin". Below Uncle Sam's arm holding the pamphlet, is some text in blue and bold with medium lettering that reads "THEME SONG OF THE / NATIONAL DEFENSE SAVINGS PROGRAM". Below the text above, appears to be some text in blue and small lettering that reads "U.S. Defense Savings Bonds and Stamps". In between both text above, is some red stripes spaced out from each other to make it look like the American flag. Below the text above, in small lettering and blue and bold, the text reads "SOUVENIR COPY / NOT TO BE HELD". Towards the left side of the sheet music, there is some text in blue that reads "COPYRIGHT BY HENRY MORGENTHAU, JR. / SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, WASHINGTON D.C." The text "COPYRIGHT BY" is smaller than the rest of the text above. Dimensions: 9 x 12 |
Date |
1941 |
Creator |
Berlin, Irving |
Catalog Number |
0000.751.004B |
Collection |
Archival Collection |
Notes |
"Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 - September 22, 1989), born Israel Isidore Beilin (Baline) in Tyumen, Russia (or possibly Mogilev, now Belarus), was a Jewish American composer and lyricist, known as one of the most prodigious and enduring songwriters in U.S. history. Escaping a climate of religious persecution, Berlin's family emigrated to the United States in 1888. Berlin got his start in New York City as a lyricist for other composers, and although he never learned how to read music beyond a rudimentary level, he wrote more than 3,000 songs and produced 17 Hollywood film scores and 21 Broadway scores. Berlin's interfaith marriage to the daughter of a prominent Roman Catholic alienated both families and led to his wife's disinheritance. Yet the marriage lasted for 62 years until her death at 85, and during these years the Russian Jewish refugee penned some of the world's most beloved Christian songs. "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade" are linked to Christian religious holidays yet are festive, not sectarian, and became cherished classics for all Americans. Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (1942) ranked as the best-selling recording for more than fifty years. Berlin's "God Bless America," composed during World War I and celebrating the freedoms of his adopted country, has become a treasured American anthem, a prayer in song that all faiths in America can sing together. Berlin's philanthropic work in support of the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and a host of other groups exemplified his selfless life and devotion to the country that he loved." [http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Irving_Berlin-02/07/2017] ""Any Bonds Today?" is a song written by Irving Berlin, featured in a 1942 animated propaganda film starring Bugs Bunny. Both were used to sell war bonds during World War II. "Any Bonds Today?" was based on Berlin's own "Any Yams Today," sung by Ginger Rogers in 1938's Carefree, which in turn was a modified version of "Any Love Today," which he wrote in 1931 but didn't have recorded. Berlin wrote the tune "at the request" of Henry Morgenthau, Jr., then U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, to promote the Treasury Department's defense bond and savings stamp drive, the National Defense Savings Program. The United States Treasury adopted the piece as the official song of the National Defense Savings Program in 1941. Its copyright, held by Morgenthau, is dated June 16, 1941. Barry Wood introduced the song (along with another Berlin composition called "Arms for the Love of America") on Arsenal Day, June 10, 1941, at the War College in Washington, D.C.; he also recorded the song in the same week for RCA Victor. Wood's performance of the song was the first broadcast on radio, "in late June 1941"; it was also performed by the Andrews Sisters, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Dick Robertson, Kay Kyser, and Gene Autry in the 1942 film Home in Wyomin'. Berlin signed over his royalty payments from the song to the war bond drive, as he did with several of his songs during the war." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_Bonds_Today%3F-02/07/2017] "Henry Morgenthau Jr. ( May 11, 1891 - February 6, 1967) was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal. After 1937, while still in charge of the Treasury, he played the central role in financing US participation in World War II. He also played an increasingly major role in shaping foreign policy, especially with respect to Lend Lease, support for China, helping Jewish refugees, and proposing (in the "Morgenthau Plan") to prevent Germany from again being a military threat by wrecking its industry and mines." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morgenthau_Jr.-02/08/2017] |
Category |
Memorabilia |
People |
Berlin, Irving Morgenthau, Henry, Jr., |
Search Terms |
Music Sheet Music World War II World War Two |
Subjects |
Music Sheet music covers World War II |
Credit line |
Courtesy of the San Mateo War Finance Council |