It was an ordinary day. Looking at my latest edition of the Saturday Evening Post one more time before I find a place in the trashcan for it. I have subscribed to the magazine for many years and have found many interesting stories on the pages of the magazine. One of my favorites from this past issue was one titled "Barbershop Quartet." Brought back fond memories of when my dad sang with the Red Rose Chorus of Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was also part of the Red Rose Quartet which sang at many private parties and events. Dad was the bass who had the deep note parts of the songs they would sing. My dad loved singing! He was in the boy's choir at St. James Episcopal Church in the late 1920s into the early 1930s. He then rejoined the men's choir after he married my mom. Before long I too was in the boys choir at St. James and had the chance to sing with my dad.
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Dad's and their children singing in the St. James Church Choir.
My dad and myself are in the right, rear of the photograph. Early 1950s photo. |
He tried more than once to get me into the Barbershoppers, but I didn't feel I could afford the time required for both practice and shows. I did rejoin the men's choir at St. James after I married and had my three children sing in the choir with both myself and my dad. Well, the Norman Rockwell drawing titled "Barbershop Quartet" had four gentlemen wearing shirts with the stiff, detachable collars of the era. The rear singer sports the "curtains" hair style of the turn of the century. Also featured was the pink-sheeted "Police Gazette" in the hand of the singer who is getting his hair trimmed. The Gazette was probably the best known tabloid paper at the time in the United States. It was known to have lurid stories of murders, massacres, scandals and sporting events that would never appear in a respected publication. It was mostly found in barbershops where women and children would not see it. When parents began to bring their children to the barber to have their hair trimmed, the publication began to disappear. And...the publication that replaced it in in most barbershops was..."The Saturday Evening Post." Somehow, many began to relate barbershop singing, be it the quartet or the chorus, with getting your hair cut.
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| A real Barbershop Quartet! By Norman Rockwell |
Perhaps many waiting their turn to have their hair cut in the barber shop might have joined in a song or two and that was how the barbershop quartet or chorus began. I have never read about that happening, but then again, I have never read that it didn't begin in that fashion. One way or another, I do love the attached piece of artwork by Mr. Norman Rockwell. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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A small group of members of the Red Rose Chorus.
My father is in rear row, second from the right with glasses. |
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