May 21st marked the 49th year since the passing of singer, Big Band leader, sometimes actor Vaughn Monroe whose unique vocals and orchestrations thrilled the Greatest Generation.
Originally from the Midwest, he studied voice for a semester at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and five years later, in 1940, formed his band. It was in that same year he built The Meadows in Framingham, Massachusetts, his restaurant and nightclub, and continued to perform there, when he was not touring, until his death in 1973.
In my upcoming book number 6 in my Double V Mysteries series, Elmer and Juliet double-date (but not with each other) at The Meadows while Vaughn Monroe performs and even hosts his live radio program, the Camel Caravan, sponsored by Camel cigarettes.
Above is the cover of the novelty tune "The Meadows - Route 9 on the Turnpike" by Jack Edwards and Johnny Watson.
Here's a song by Vaughn Monroe and his "girl singers," the Mood Maids - "Dream a Little Dream of Me." Pretend you're with Elmer and Juliet, their dates, and the radio audience at home, at The Meadows in the late summer of 1951.
Book number six is The Iron Lung Mystery. More on that in weeks to come.
More on Vaughn Monroe in this previous post, and this one.
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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of States of Mind: New England;
Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;
The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts;
Beside the Still Waters (a novel of the Quabbin Reservoir towns);
and the Double V Mysteries series of novels set around New England in the early 1950s.
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