{"id":976,"date":"2009-10-20T11:37:53","date_gmt":"2009-10-20T15:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=976"},"modified":"2009-10-20T13:26:48","modified_gmt":"2009-10-20T17:26:48","slug":"comic-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=976","title":{"rendered":"Comic Relief"},"content":{"rendered":"

A researcher inquiry recently led me to review the John C. Becher Soldier Show Collection and get a few laughs in the process.\u00c2\u00a0 The collection illustrates the various ways the U.S. military used comedy to maintain high morale during World War II.\u00c2\u00a0 Spanning the years 1940-1953, the collection includes poems, quizzes, crafts manuals, original songs, song parodies, sheet music, pamphlets, theatrical manuals and guides, and comedy routines.\u00c2\u00a0 A significant portion of the material was created by military personnel attending the Special Services School in Lexington, Virginia. Unlike entertainment produced by the USO-camp shows, the Becher Collection highlights material produced by soldiers for soldiers.\u00c2\u00a0 Intended to engage soldiers through participation, the collection reveals insight into the mentality of World War II soldiers and the era in general.<\/p>\n

\"Soldier

Cover of a Soldier Show script.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Soldier

Cover of a Soldier Show script.<\/p><\/div>\n

Those participating in soldier shows sang parodies, read poetry, and performed comedy routines.\u00c2\u00a0 Below are a few of my favorite pieces from the collection.<\/p>\n

\"What

What To Do In Case Of An Air Raid<\/p><\/div>\n

\"How

How To Be A Success In The Army<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Chow

Chow Hounds General Orders<\/p><\/div>\n

For more information about the John C. Becher Soldier Show Collection, please see http:\/\/sca.gmu.edu\/finding_aids\/becher.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A researcher inquiry recently led me to review the John C. Becher Soldier Show Collection and get a few laughs in the process.\u00c2\u00a0 The collection illustrates the various ways the U.S. military used comedy to maintain high morale during World War II.\u00c2\u00a0 Spanning the years 1940-1953, the collection includes poems, quizzes, crafts manuals, original songs, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[29,106,108,107,79],"class_list":["post-976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scrc-interest","tag-gmu-libraries","tag-john-becher","tag-military","tag-soldier-shows","tag-world-war-ii"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-fK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1451,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=1451","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":0},"title":"GIs Particpate in Soldier Shows while Waiting to Ship Out for Home","author":"admin","date":"January 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this fall an inquiry came to SC&A about the John C. Becher Soldier Show Collection (see Veronica Fisher\u2019s post from Tuesday, October 20, 2009). Further correspondence revealed that the researcher had actually taken part in the World War II soldier show \u201cFall Out for Fun.\u201d Excited by the prospect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "oral history"","block_context":{"text":"oral history","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=104"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/soldier1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11264,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=11264","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":1},"title":"New & Updated Finding Aids – February 2025","author":"Meghan Glasbrenner","date":"February 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 We're officially over a month into the new year, the Spring Semester has well and truly begun, and your SCRC processing team is back with some exciting new and updated finding aids, including a 19 box (10 linear feet) World War I collection that is featured in our Spring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Finding Aids"","block_context":{"text":"New Finding Aids","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=710"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/C0516.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7783,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7783","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":2},"title":"Adventures in Processing – The Randolph H. Lytton Collection","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"July 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Bill Keeler, Processing Student Assistant. Bill is studying History with a focus in American History at George Mason University. Hello! During my last blog post I highlighted the Randolph H. Lytton Historical Virginia collection, including items that exhibited different emotions a soldier felt during the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lytton3.jpg?fit=858%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lytton3.jpg?fit=858%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lytton3.jpg?fit=858%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/lytton3.jpg?fit=858%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8932,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8932","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":3},"title":"A War of Contradictions: The Vietnam Conflict 1945-1975","author":"Bob Vay","date":"November 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIt became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it.\u201d This quote, attributed to a U.S. Army officer in February 1968, illustrates the contradictions inherent in the Vietnam Conflict. Seen by some as a noble fight to stop Communism and help a developing country establish democracy, and others\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/R0135B08P019_22.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/R0135B08P019_22.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/R0135B08P019_22.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/R0135B08P019_22.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/R0135B08P019_22.jpg?fit=1200%2C727&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5241,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=5241","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":4},"title":"Picturing the Eastern Front: Postcards and Watercolors from the Gustav Klemp World War I German Graphic Materials Collection","author":"admin","date":"February 4, 2015","format":"image","excerpt":"One hundred years ago, Gustav Klemp, a trained artist from Podgorz-Thorn in what was then West Prussia, served as a medic in the German Army on the Eastern Front in World War I. Today, selections from the postcards and artwork he sent home to his wife and family during the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Watercolor by Gustav Klemp of a grenade exploding, March 1916","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/C0250B01P022_01-125x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9942,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=9942","url_meta":{"origin":976,"position":5},"title":"Looking Over Our Shoulder: Espionage","author":"Bob Vay","date":"December 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is part of a series pertaining to SCRC\u2019s current exhibition, Looking Over Our Shoulder: The Cold War in American Culture. The text was borrowed from the exhibition. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conducted espionage against each other during the Cold War period. Information in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "exhibits"","block_context":{"text":"exhibits","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/button5.jpg?fit=668%2C525&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/button5.jpg?fit=668%2C525&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/button5.jpg?fit=668%2C525&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=976"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1099,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/976\/revisions\/1099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}