1- Where was the very first Society chapter located?
2- The first affiliate (all foreign countries except for Canada) barbershop organization was from which country and when was it founded?
3- Were society judges always trained and certified?
4- When did "methodical" judging commence?
5- Where and when did the Canadians join their brethren to the south in the world's greatest hobby?
Answers to this month's history quiz:
1- Tulsa, Oklahoma
2- In 1965, a barbershop aficionado by the name of Harry Danser, from Crawley, England, organized the first British "harmony club." The idea caught on and spread, very much as it had in America, and, in 1973, BABS, the British Association of Barbershoppers, was founded.
3- Hardly! Until 1944 contests were judged by local dignitaries and celebrities, most of whom had no musical credentials at all. Additionally, there were no judging categories except for best, second best, etc.
4- In 1944, the helter-skelter nature of the contest-judging system (non-system, really) was fixed at the urging of many barbershoppers from throughout the society. The 1944 innovations included: the establishment of four defined judging categories (harmony accuracy, voice expression, song and voice arrangement, and stage presence), the assigning of two judges per category, and that the judges were then and henceforth prohibited from judging in more than one category in any given contest.
5- The Windsor, Ontario Chapter which was chartered in 1944.