{"id":30224,"date":"2013-07-04T23:18:10","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T03:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=30224"},"modified":"2013-07-05T16:46:00","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T21:16:00","slug":"ghost-of-damn-yankees-author-george-abbott-surfaces-every-july-4th-shocking-revelation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=30224","title":{"rendered":"Ghost of Damn Yankees Author George Abbott Surfaces every July 4th \u2013 SHOCKING REVELATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Mike Baker<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, Damn Yankees Tony award-winning Playwright and Director, George Abbott, is synonymous with the Nation\u2019s 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, \u201cLola,\u201d the term Damn Yankee(s), American history, President Van Buren, and King George III, America\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

George Abbott began serious work on Damn Yankees in early 1954. The most valuable piece of information in the musical is Lola\u2019s age. (She claims to be 172 years old). When one investigates the date of 1782, (1954 minus 172 years), George Abbott\u2019s patriotic tribute emerges.<\/p>\n

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

(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).<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s character \u201cLola\u201d is a metaphor for what King George called a runaway colony; the new nation, the United States of America, once King George\u2019s dupe, but now an independent nation and most compassionate country in the world. Abbott\u2019s devil in Damn Yankees is undoubtedly King George III of England. King George hated America and was quoted as having used the term \u201cDamn Yankees.\u201d<\/p>\n

(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)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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 \u201cstate of its timbers;\u201d yet another metaphor.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cLola,\u201d 1782. The Senators Manager in Damn Yankees is \u201cMr. Van Buren.\u201d If
\nyou doubt for one minute that the Damn Yankees \u201cVan Buren\u201d is President Van Buren, consider this.<\/p>\n

(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 \"\"<\/a>presidency of Martin Van Buren)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Damn Yankees – \u201cVan Buren\u201d \u2013 \u201cOkay, get out there (Joe).\u201d
\nDamn Yankees is full of the idiomatic expression, \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Abbott, once referred to as the \u201cKing of Broadway,\u201d 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\u00a0was quoted as having said, \u201cThere must be somebody important here.\u201d Well, that \u201cimportant man\u201d is George Abbott, who along with co-writer, Douglass Wallop, honor our American heritage every July 4th with their patriotic utterance, Damn Yankees!<\/p>\n

To find out about more about Mike Baker, visit his award winning website<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike Baker That\u2019s right, Damn Yankees Tony award-winning Playwright and Director, George Abbott, is synonymous with the Nation\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8906],"class_list":["post-30224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-ghost-of-damn-yankees-author-george-abbott-surfaces-every-july-4th-shocking-revelation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}