World War I Soldier Shows are subject of free talk at Military Museum on Saturday, March 24

SARATOGA SPRING, N.Y. (03/20/2018) (readMedia)-- Soldier shows put on by members of the New York National Guard who served in Europe in World War I is the subject of a free talk at the New York State Military Museum on Saturday, March 24 at 2 p.m.

The 27th Division's Soldier Shows during World War I" will be presented by Ballston Spa resident David Fiske, a retired librarian and author.

In the days before radio and when movies were all silent, and nobody had even though of digital video, Soldiers had to entertain themselves.

Soldiers who could sing, dance, or play an instrument were in demand and they began putting on Soldier shows for themselves and eventually the public at large.

Some of these Soldier shows were major productions. The shows featured songs, skits, and men dressed as women, since the Army was all-male in those days.

The most famous was "Yip, Yip, Yaphank" a show created by songwriter Irving Berlin, a Sergeant in the Army, which featured the tune "Oh How I hate to Get Up in the Morning" about how the singer wanted to murder the bugler.

Berlin also wrote "God Bless America" for the show but decided it was too sappy. That song would see the light of the day 25 years later.

The 27th Division was made up of Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard. Those Soldiers eventually produced four different shows which were produced in the United States and France. In some cases the Soldiers who put the shows together in the Army continued to produce them at home.

Fiske will discuss the how these shows were created, who was involved, and how they were received.

The New York State Military Museum is located at 61 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs. The museum focuses on the history of New Yorker's in the nation's conflicts.