QUESTIONS:
1. The first meeting of barbershoppers (informal gathering of 26 close harmony aficionados is more accurate) took place on the roof garden of the Tulsa Club on April 11, 1938. What important status did the society not have from that first meeting until July 6th of that year?
2. What other essential organizational characteristic did we lack from April 11, 1938 until June 2-3, 1939, and what took place on June 2-3, 1939 to correct this?
3. In the absence of the characteristic alluded to in question #2, what critically important activities was the society surprisingly still able to do?
4. Major administrative innovations of lasting significance occurred on June 2-3, 1939. What were they?
5. Another meeting of great importance in our early history took place on January 20, 1940. What was it and where was it held? What occurred in this meeting - a portent of big musical changes to come - and what event was planned during that meeting that gave the society tremendous public exposure—exposure that contributed to the explosive growth we enjoyed in membership and the establishment of new chapters in the early days of the society?
ANSWERS:
1. Legal status. It was not until 7/6/38 that the society was incorporated (under the laws of the state of Oklahoma).
2. What the society lacked between 4/38 and 6/39 was any sort of organizational structure whatsoever...no rules and regulations, no officers, no budget, etc. All of those were wholly non-existent until they were established during our first quartet contest and convention, held in Tulsa on June 2-3, 1939.
3. Adding new members and new chapters, our ranks swelled by leaps and bounds during those early years. Extra tidbit...society founder, O.C. Cash, ever the barbershop promoter, let no fish wiggle off the hook. Whenever he received a written inquiry about barbershopping, he responded by enclosing a membership card and certificate in the envelope along with a welcome letter. He never let the fact that the inquiry did not include a request for membership bother him. Salespeople call this a positive assumptive close. These early membership cards and certificates, by the way, were printed up at the personal expense of Cash and society co-founder (but clearly second in command) Rupert Hall.
4. The society became a structured organization through the establishment of various administrative departments and the election of our first officers. Cash, for reasons I have never seen in print, was not interested in becoming president and that distinction went to Hall. Cash, however, had himself whimsically declared "Permanent Third Assistant Temporary Vice-Chairman". In addition to the society president, other elective offices established in the 6/39 convention were: secretary-treasurer, master of ceremonies, and seven vice presidents. An appointed board of directors was also formed.
5. It was our first midwinter convention which took place in St. Louis. The musical buzz at the meeting was the first public performance of a barbershop chorus...a 22 voice ensemble from the St. Louis Chapter which was directed by Dr. Norman "Doc" Rathert. Rathert went on in 1940 to become the society's second president. Choruses were not universally appreciated or promoted back then with many barbershoppers opposed for reasons of perceived impurity, opining that by definition barbershop must be sung by four singers, no more no less. (Let's rejoice that the self-proclaimed purists lost that battle - Ed). The purists didn t go quietly, however, and the battle raged on. It was not until 1953 that choruses were allowed to compete and 1954 before every district sent a chorus to the international chorus contest. It was also decided in that first mid-winter meeting that the location for the society's second quartet contest and convention (1940) would be at the New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. This was done for two reasons. Firstly, to give the east coast a play as previously every society event of consequence had taken place in the southwest or the midwest. The second reason was to capitalize on the sensational exposure that the NYC World's Fair venue would provide.
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