Wool Commandeer, The

DESCRIPTION: "The commandeer is underway, and blimey, what a fuss, The blinking din and clatter sure would make a parson cuss." they're desperately trying to set up a site to receive the commandeered wool. Wool comes from everywhere and is overloading the site
AUTHOR: Words: George Meek / Music: Frank Fyfe (source: Graham Wilson, "Billy on the Boil")
EARLIEST DATE: 1940 (text written, according to Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ; the tune came later)
KEYWORDS: work sheep humorous New Zealand
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Garland-FacesInTheFirelight-NZ, p. 40, "(The Wool Commandeer)" (1 text)
NOTES [122 words]: During World War II, the New Zealand government apparently commandeered the entire New Zealand wool clip for war purposes. This song mocks the government's lack of preparedness for dealing with the situation when all the wool arrived at the warehouses at the same time.
The irony is that the government should have known this would happen; according to Keith Jackson and Alan McRobie, Historical Dictionary of New Zealand (Oceanian Historical Dictionaries #5), The Scarecrow Press, 1996, p. 82, a similar system had existed from 1915-1919, when the British government purchased all of New Zealand's exports at a fixed (but high) price, ensuring temporary prosperity. So they should have known the times when products came in! - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: Garl040

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