It's Fun to be Free

[disneydave]

This 52-page 9 1/2 by 12 inch spiral bound program was published by the St. Louis chapter of the Fight For Freedom Committee to Defend America. The program was printed for the “Fun to be Free” stage performance held in the St. Louis Convention Hall Municipal Auditorium on December 10, 1941.

 

While several pieces of insignia art had been created in the early part of 1941, this particular piece is probably just the fourth or fifth piece of home front war related art to come out of Disney's Studio.

 

The show included music by Irving Berlin and George Gershwin, narration by actors Burgess Meredith and Humphrey Bogart, a variety show performed by Phil Silvers and a speech by Wendell Wilkie.

 

The program's cover features a great revolutionary war scene with Mickey Mouse carrying a flag with the “V” for victory symbol, Donald Duck playing the fife, and Goofy banging on a washtub drum with a pair of spoons. Disney artist Hank Porter created the cover illustration, which was his adaptation of the art found on the cover of the July 1939 Mickey Mouse Magazine.

 

This particular program belonged to the committee's Secretary Treasurer.

 

To my knowledge only two FFC programs are known to exist at this time. The other example is the remnants of a program from the first showing of the play, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in early October 1941. The NYC program is apparently in very poor condition and according to the owner, the cover has been detached and framed separate from the rest of the program.

 

I also recently acquired the original art for this piece, which was created on tissue-type paper and measures almost 12 x 15 inches in size.

 

The principle speaker for the Fight For Freedom Committee was famed World War I hero Alvin York. The organization advocated America's entry into the war to help England, which faced the Nazi and Japanese threats with just the help of her Commonwealth Allies. In direct competition with the FFFC was America First, an isolationist organization whose principle speaker was famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.

 

A smaller 23 page softcover booklet also exists that features the same Revolutionary War scene as this program. The booklet contains a listing of the play's cast and 15 pages of text for the play.