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.



Thursday, September 9, 2021

 The items, sayings, and people mentioned in these lyrics don't perfectly match up with the time period of Kay Kemble's life which is the focus of this blog (1938-1952) but some of the stuff does. And more imporantly, the song came out in 1972 when people of a certain age were already feeling that the popular culture of their youth was disapprearing. One of the reasons I find it satisfying to try and make Kay's life and world real to modern people is that I have empathy for folks who feel left behind in a world which no longer understands their life experiences. 






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