1- Other than Society International Contests themselves, the next most important and prestigious quartet contest in the history of barbershopping was the annual June event sponsored by the New York City Parks' Department. When did these contests start and when did they cease?
2- Where were these contests held?
3- What was the largest number of quartets ever to compete in this contest?
4- The final round consisted of the top five quartets from the semi-finals. How many spectators were in the largest-ever audience for the finals, and in what year did this huge crowd turn out? Many features of the later Society contests were adopted from the NYC contests; name the two most important of these.
Answers to Barbershop History Quiz:
1- From 1935 until 1960. (Note: I indicated in the Barbershop History Quiz in the November, 2001, Chatter that the NYC contests began in 1923, which I had read in one of my sources. However, I have subsequently read in two other sources that the contests began in 1935. Two being greater than one, let's go with 1935).
2- The Great Lawn in Central Park
3- 210. Unfortunately, my source does not indicate in which year this occurred.
4- 25,000 spectators attended the finals in 1950. I may be wrong about this (all are invited to correct me, if so), but I don't believe that any Society International Contest ever had 25K people, or anything close to 25K, in the audience. Then again, it was a different time, much closer than we are today to barbershop's heyday, and the Great Lawn is a wee bit larger than any indoor venue we could possibly use. Six hundred thousand (!) folks, including your humble editor and his better half, attended the Simon and Garfunkle reunion concert on the Great Lawn in the summer of 1981, so 25K was no crowd management challenge at all. Only singing was permitted, any instrumental accompaniment was strictly prohibited; and each quartet had to compete with two songs, no more, no less.