Stripped of its original intro, a verse about celebrating Christmas in sunny Beverly Hills, White Christmas became a song about longing for security and peace and faraway loved ones. By the time Crosby’s song came out, says Rast, “They’re projecting to the sadness they’re going to feel in the coming Christmas.” According to the Gonzaga digital exhibit, Armed Forces Radio played the song so often that Crosby recorded “a special V-Disc version for those on the front lines.” In the summer of 1942, Americans were stationed in Europe or the Pacific, while others at home reorganized their lives around wartime production. The first time Crosby sang it, “it was a little too early to resonate,” says Rast. Over two academic years, his students compiled a digital history exhibit that examines Crosby and Berlin’s role in recasting how America views Christmas. Rast teaches a course in public history at Gonzaga University.
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