Unique Militaria: WWI Sheet Music

When you think of military collectibles you generally think of medals, badges, weapons, photos, or perhaps uniforms themselves. But a recent estate sale find got me thinking. Songs from times of war were captured in sheet music. Today’s songs would include one of my absolute favorites by John Mayer, Waiting for the World to Change. It tells of the ‘youth’ of today feeling powerless to make changes in our country’s policies and wishing they could bring soldiers home from war so they’d “never miss a Christmas, no more letters on the door.

Well, many, many years ago, at the start of the last century, writers were dealing with the escalation of military activity. Some of the songs included “Someone Else May be There While I’m Gone.” It was by Irving Berlin and has a copyright of 1918.

Another one is called “I’d Be Proud to be the Mother of a Soldier.” This one shows a white haired lady with a lacy collar and black dress. She’s holding onto the hand of a soldier in WWI uniform. The words to the song lament that their son has to go off ‘to fight’ and they ‘pray for peace.’ Another stanza reads “But it would be a different story if they trampled on Old Glory, I’d be proud to be the Mother of a soldier.” Some things do not change, huh?

A piece of sheet music entitled “Where do we go from Here” has a lot of ‘graphic’ wording on the war itself. It reads in part “When the war began, Pat enlisted in the army as a fighting man. When the drills began, they’d walk a hundred miles a day. Tho the rest got tired, Paddy always used to say – Where do we go from here boys, where do we go from here?” Another verse is “Slip a pill to Kaiser Bill and make him shed a tear, and when we see the enemy, we’ll shoot them in the rear.” The famous singer Frank Bessinger is also pictured on the front cover and it has a copyright of 1917.

Probably the most touching of the WWI songs was “Just a Baby’s Prayer at Twilight (for her Daddy over there.)” It shows a little girl with long hair in her nightgown, kneeling on her bed next to dear dolly. It reads in part “After saying goodnight mama, she climbs up the stairs, Quite unawares and says her prayers ‘Oh, kindly tell my daddy that he must take care.’ That’s a baby’s prayer at twilight for her daddy over their.” I bet there was not a dry eye in the house when this was sung around the piano!

Sheet music is generally easy to find and almost always inexpensive. The ones referring to military history are a bit higher, but I found the batch of these for under $10 at an estate sale. The graphics are quite charming and tell a story even before you turn the page. These look neat framed, or as I do, resting on the front of an antique organ. Sheet music is a super cross-over collectible, whether you desire musical items, military or historical pieces or old prints.