About this project

Kay Kemble (1911-1989) is a character invented for this project. Kay sang on radio commercials as a child and went on to lead Big Bands and swing ensembles in the 30's and 40's. She worked at Scott Air Field as a WAAC enlistee and a civilian. She produced war bond rallies, and her all-female band promoted a popular shampoo brand. In the 80's there was renewed interest in Kay's musical career.

Kay informally adopted the orphaned niece and nephew of her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton, and in the early 70's the family moved from St. Louis to New Orleans. After Kay and Teeny's deaths, family members remained in New Orleans until displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 2014, I arranged to archive, organize, and restore Kay's memorabilia. Most items were damaged due to age, hurried packing , and lack of funds for formal archiving.

I've "become" Kay in reproduction radio broadcasts, and created artifacts to represent damaged or destroyed items in the collection.



Monday, March 1, 2021

"Sorry, the jukebox is out of order. . ." #1

 Certain novelty hits in Kay's era were played so often that bartenders would pretend that the jukebox wasn't working so they could get a break. The early 1950s had a number of rinky-dinky piano "special numbers" including Del Wood's hit from 1951. Lord knows how many performances of it Del gave in concert and on television and radio.




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