Ghost of Damn Yankees Author George Abbott Surfaces every July 4th – SHOCKING REVELATION

By Mike Baker

That’s right, Damn Yankees Tony award-winning Playwright and Director, George Abbott, is synonymous with the Nation’s Birthday. Why you ask? Well, here goes. Abbott hid something in Damn Yankees for us to discover years after it was penned in 1954. Believe it or not, it has something to do with ships, 172 years, “Lola,” the term Damn Yankee(s), American history, President Van Buren, and King George III, America’s nemesis. One thing I have found to be true is that writers bury fascinating things in their work that flummox many, only to be discovered by innocents years later. I think Abbott wanted us to stumble on this patriotic revelation one July 4th in the future. Well, today is the day.

George Abbott began serious work on Damn Yankees in early 1954. The most valuable piece of information in the musical is Lola’s age. (She claims to be 172 years old). When one investigates the date of 1782, (1954 minus 172 years), George Abbott’s patriotic tribute emerges.

In 1782, the Treaty of Paris was signed between England and America. It represented formal recognition of the United States as a sovereign Nation.

(Provisional Articles signed at Paris on the 30th of November 1782, by the Commissioners empowered on each Part, which articles were agreed to be inserted in and constitute the Treaty of Paris proposed to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and the said United States).

Abbott’s character “Lola” is a metaphor for what King George called a runaway colony; the new nation, the United States of America, once King George’s dupe, but now an independent nation and most compassionate country in the world. Abbott’s devil in Damn Yankees is undoubtedly King George III of England. King George hated America and was quoted as having used the term “Damn Yankees.”

(The term Yankees (sometimes referred to as Yank) has several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Outside the US it is used to refer to people from the U.S. in general. The Truncated form is especially popular among Britons and Australians, and may sometimes be considered offensive ad disapproving. First used in 1752 to refer to the people of New England)

Finally, I find it interesting that the HMS Royal George, named after King George III, sank on August 29th, 1782. Upon its launching it was the largest ship of its kind. It sank due to the “state of its timbers;” yet another metaphor.

Damn Yankees is also a tribute to the first President born in the U.S., President Martin Van Buren, who just happened to be born the same year as “Lola,” 1782. The Senators Manager in Damn Yankees is “Mr. Van Buren.” If
you doubt for one minute that the Damn Yankees “Van Buren” is President Van Buren, consider this.

(Twentieth Century etymologist Alan Walker Read has published research asserting the wide usage of the phrase “O.K.” (Okay) started during the presidential campaign and subsequent presidency of Martin Van Buren)

Damn Yankees – “Van Buren” – “Okay, get out there (Joe).”
Damn Yankees is full of the idiomatic expression, “Okay.”

George Abbott, once referred to as the “King of Broadway,” was a very clever man. When Mr. Abbott walked up the aisle at the 1994 revival of Damn Yankees at the age of 106, the audience gave him a standing ovation. George was quoted as having said, “There must be somebody important here.” Well, that “important man” is George Abbott, who along with co-writer, Douglass Wallop, honor our American heritage every July 4th with their patriotic utterance, Damn Yankees!

To find out about more about Mike Baker, visit his award winning website.