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This week, we talk about Wimbledon champ Andy Murray, and ask why the Holiday Inn is called that. Then we look through a little book called “Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain” from 1942, which was designed to prepare American servicemen for life in the U.K. Later, Pond calls in to take the quiz, and wonders what the “4H Club” is, while Johnson ponders what it means to “come a cropper.”
This was definitely one of the funniest shows to date..I love Johnson’s thought process during the quizzes, and Pond was very funny. One of the pieces of advice in the AmericansoldiersgoingtoBritain instructional video was for them to not be alarmed when seeing blacks in the same establishments as whites. Britain didn’t enforce segregation. There was footage of an elderly British woman inviting a black soldier and a white soldier to tea at her house. I learned this nugget of info from an episode of QI..LOVE that show. If you don’t know of it, get familiar with it on YouTube.
🙂 love the show, as usual…
x
My Mum was a nurse and during the ww2,after work the nurses doctors etc went to their local”THE HORSE &GROOM” owned and run by Mrs Perkins. Many American servicemen would frequent the friendly pub,one evening some coloured American GIs came in to join the scene,a couple of white GIs said to Mrs Perkins<"You can't serve them here with all of us" Mrs Perkins firmly and very friendly " These boys are all the same to us, they are over here fighting and risking their lives like everyone else, and I will gladly serve them". The Horse and Groom is still there on Rayne Road Braintree Essex.. No segregation .
Those white GIs clearly didn’t read their handbook. And Mrs Perkins didn’t need one. Thanks, Jean. Lovely story.
James