Keeping with the tendency of the times to exaggerate most things, The Twenties featured numerous “causes celebres”, where events, fostered by sensationalist media, grabbed hold of the public attention and would not let go. Perhaps the most notable of these “causes celebres” was Charles A. Lindbergh.
On May 27, 1927, 25 years old Charles Lindbergh began his attempt to be the first person to pilot a fixed wing aircraft solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Dirigibles had previously accomplished the feat, many teams of pilots had made the flight, and single pilots had done it in stages, but no one had ever done it alone without stopping. Lindbergh was competing for $25,000 in prize money (worth about $350,000 in 2017 terms) that had been available since 1919. (USAToday, Sunday, May 21, 2017, p. 6B.) At the time Lindbergh was readying his fight, several others were also in the final stages of preparation for their attempts. In fact, several weeks before Lindbergh’s flight, Commander Richard Byrd of North Pole fame, trying for the prize money, crashed his plane taking off from the same field later used by Lindbergh. (Streissguth, p. 231)
Lindbergh’s plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, was specially equipped for the attempt. The wings and tail were modified. Extra fuel tanks were added in the wings, behind the engine and in the cockpit. The forward fuel tank made it impossible to see out the windshield, and Lindbergh had to navigate by looking out the side windows. To make up for the added weight of the fuel, all unnecessary items were eliminated. For example, instead of a conventional leather pilot seat, Lindbergh used a light weight wicker chair. Lindbergh did not even take a radio in the plane. (USA Today.)
Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island at about 7:40 AM on May 20, 1927. He landed in Paris at 10:24 PM on May 21, 33 ½ hours after he took off. More than a hundred thousand Parisians were at Le Bourget Airfield in Paris to greet him. When he returned home, he was given a ticker-tape parade down Broadway in New York City that dumped 1,800 tons of shredded paper on the street. (TFC, Vol. 3, p. 25, Jennings, p. 141)
Songs about Lindbergh were already sweeping the country before he returned from France. In the two-year period following Lindbergh’s flight, the U.S. Copyright Office recorded three hundred applications on Lindbergh songs. Within days of the flight, dozens of Tin Pan Alley publishers rushed into print with topical tributes to Lindy — prompting the illustrious songwriting team of DeSylva, Brown and Henderson to compose the satirical “This Song Is Not about Lindbergh.”
L. Wolfe Gilbert (words) and Abel Baer (music) finished their hit-to-be, “Lucky Lindy”, https://youtu.be/M7h9oxG_j8U, just as news of a safe landing at Le Bourget came over the radio on May 21. That night it was performed to great acclaim in several Manhattan clubs, and Leo Feist published it over the weekend. It was on sale by Monday, May 23, and on Tuesday it headlined the marquee of the Paramount Theater, where it was featured on the Wurlitzer between showings of the week’s movie, “Rough House Rosie”, starring Clara Bow. Singer Jack Kaufman recorded the tune for Harmony Records on May 25, 1927, four days after Lindbergh’s flight. http://lindbergh106.weebly.com/music.html
“Lucky Lindy”
From coast to coast, we all can boast and sing a toast to one
Who’s made a name
By being game.
He was born with wings as great as any bird that flies
A lucky star
Led him afar!cho: Lucky Lindy! Up in the sky
Fair or windy, he’s flying high.
Peerless, fearless — knows every cloud
The kind of a son makes a mother feel proud!
Lucky Lindy! Flies all alone
In a little plane all his own,
Lucky Lindy shows them the way
And he’s the hero of the day.Just like a child, he simply smiled while we went wild with fear
That Yankee lad!
The world went mad!
Everywhere we prayed for him to safely cross the sea
And he arrived
In gay Par-ee!
“Lindy Comes to Town” , written and sung by Al Stewart, the titular figure is Charles Lindbergh, who “comes to town” in a June 13, 1927 for a “ticker-tape parade”. US President Calvin Coolidge is referred to, and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 is ironically hinted at. – https://youtu.be/Odi-Et5XoAM;
Lindy flew his plane across the dark Atlantic
Put her down near Paris and the crowds went frantic
They raced across the field, to touch the wings and wheels
And reach inside the cockpit just to see if he was realBack in New York City people watched and waited
The news came down the wire and they celebrated
And in that time so brief, it was everyone’s belief
That the world had grown no bigger than a pocket handkerchiefWhen Lindy comes to town and all the bands are playing
When Lindy comes to town and all the flags are waving
Mr Coolidge he will say, it’s a public holiday
You can see them ride down Wall Street in a tickertape paradeI want to be there in that crown upon that bright, bright morning
And I can tell the world I saw a new day dawning
With my baby by my side in among that human tide
I want to be right there when Lindy comes to townEvery day is better than the one before it
If I see a raincloud then I’ll just ignore it
Everybody says it’ll get much better yet
It’s 1927 and my whole life lies aheadGonna get myself a car and find a place to park it
Get a little cash and put it in the market
And on my wedding day I will turn around and say
There never was a better time than this one anywayWhen Lindy comes to town and all the bands are playing
When Lindy comes to town and all the flags are waving
Mr Coolidge he will say, it’s a public holiday
You can see them ride down Wall Street in a tickertape paradeI want to be there in that crown upon that bright, bright morning
And I can tell the world I saw a new day dawning
With my baby by my side in among that human tide
I want to be right there when Lindy comes to town
“Spirit of St. Louis”, written and performed by Joe Ross / Hop High Music, 2006, presents another version of the story of Lindbergh’s story. https://youtu.be/T007x4h5QIM
In the year of twenty-seven, they said it could be done,
To fly across the ocean, headin’ for the sun,
So a group of men and women, worked for sixty days,
On a plane that would make history on the 20th of May.They called upon a young man who called Detroit his home,
To fly the mighty Spirit that shone like polished chrome,
The man was tall and slender, Lindy was his name,
And he would fly the mighty plane as if it were a game.Oh the Spirit of St. Louis, it was a mighty plane,
It could do loops in the air or ride a hurricane,
On that day in twenty-seven, the plane made history,
By crossing the Atlantic from New York to Par-ee.When the time came for their takeoff, he boarded with a prayer,
As the sun reflected off the prop and cast a shiny glare,
He wondered what would lay ahead and why he’d took the dare,
To cross the wide Atlantic, in sleepless solitaire.One man wished him luck, he answered with a swear,
“I hope my plane will make it, for I haven’t got a spare,
I only hope this plane will fly and that I won’t get wet,
For if I do then I’ll have seen my very last sunset.”From that muddy, sodden airfield in the state of New York,
The plane began to climb, the propeller with its torque,
Pulled the Spirit of St. Louis into the breezy air,
For over thirty hours they would ride a wild mare.It was ten o’clock at night when he landed in Par-ee,
The French were very happy for he’d cross the mighty sea,
He climbed out of the cockpit, so brave and debonair,
Thank the Spirit of St. Louis for getting’ him safely there.