A pair of trousers

Trousers are an item of clothing worn from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across both as in skirts and dresses). The word trousers is used in the UK and Ireland, but some other English-speaking countries such as Canada, South Africa, and the United States can also refer to such items of clothing as pants. Additional synonyms include slacks, strides, kegs or kex, breeches (sometimes britches  /ˈbrɪtʃɨz/), or breeks. Shorts are similar to trousers, but with legs that come down only to around the area of the knee, higher or lower than the knee depending on the style of the garment.

In most of the Western world, trousers have been worn since ancient times and throughout the Medieval period, becoming the most common form of lower body clothing for males in the modern period, although shorts are also widely worn, and kilts and other garments may be worn in various regions and cultures. Since the 20th century, trousers have become prevalent for females as well. Shorts are often preferred in hot weather or for some sports, and also often by children. Trousers are worn at the hips or waist, and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt, or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers of a clingy material, often knitted cotton and spandex.

Terminology[link]

In the United Kingdom and Ireland most people use trousers or slacks as the general category term, whereas pants usually refers to underwear but is used, interchangeably with trousers, in some northern dialects. In Scotland, trousers are known as trews, which is the historic root of the word 'trousers'. Trousers are known as breeks in Scots.

In North America pants is the general category term (though Ambrose Bierce found the word "vulgar exceedingly" and recommended trousers^[1]), whereas trousers (sometimes slacks in Australia and the United States) often refer more precisely to tailored garments with a waistband, belt-loops, and a fly-front. For instance, informal elastic-waist knitted garments would be called pants, but not slacks.

North Americans call undergarments underwear, underpants, "long johns" or panties (the last are women's garments specifically) to distinguish them from other pants that are worn on the outside. The term drawers normally refers to undergarments, but in some dialects, may be found as a synonym for "breeches", that is, trousers. In these dialects, the term underdrawers is used for undergarments. In Australia, men's undergarments are called underwear, underpants, undies, under-dacks, dacks or jocks.

Various people in the fashion industry use the word pant instead of pants. This is nonstandard usage. The word "pants" is a plurale tantum, always in plural form—much like the words "scissors" and "tongs". However, the singular form of the word is used in some compound words, such as trouser-leg, trouser-press and trouser-bottoms.^[2]

History[link]

Prehistory[link]

There is some evidence, from figurative art, of trousers being worn in the Upper Paleolithic. An example are the figurines found at the Siberian sites of Mal'ta and Buret'.^[3]

Antiquity[link]

Scythian archer. Interior from an Ancient Greek Attic red-figure plate, ca. 520–500 BC, from Vulci. British Museum, London.

Germanic trousers of the 4th century found in the Thorsberg moor, Germany

Trousers first enter recorded history in the 6th century BCE, with the appearance of horse-riding Iranian peoples in Greek ethnography. At this time, not only the Persians, but also allied Eastern and Central Asian peoples such as the Bactrians, Armenians, and the Tigraxauda Scythians, Xiongnu Hunnu (nowadays Mongolia) are known to have worn them.^[4][5] Trousers are believed to have been worn by both sexes among these early users.^[6]

The ancient Greeks used the term "ἀναξυρίδες" (anaxyrides) for the trousers worn by eastern nations^[7] and "σαράβαρα" (sarabara) for the loose trousers worn by the Scythians.^[8] However, they did not wear trousers since they thought them ridiculous,^[9][10] using the word "θύλακες" (thulakes), pl. of "θύλακος" (thulakos), "sack", as a slang term for the loose trousers of Persians and other orientals such as a Altaic.^[11]

Republican Rome viewed the draped clothing of Greece, and Minoan (Crete) culture as an emblem of civilization and disdained trousers as the mark of barbarians.^[12] As the Empire expanded beyond the Mediterranean basin, however, the greater warmth provided by trousers led to their adoption.^[13] Two types of trousers eventually saw widespread use in Rome; the Feminalia, which fit snugly and usually fell to knee or mid-calf length,^[14] and the Braccae, a loose fitting trouser which was closed at the ankles.^[15] Both garments were adopted originally from the Celts of Europe, although later familiarity with the Persian Near East, and the Teutons increased acceptance. Feminalia and Braccae both began use as military garments, spreading to civilian dress later and were eventually made in a variety of materials including leather, wool, cotton and silk.^[16]

Medieval Europe[link]

Trousers of various design were worn throughout the Middles Ages in Europe, especially by males. Loose fitting trousers were worn in Byzantium under long tunics,^[17] and were worn by many of the barbarian tribes specially Xiongnu Hun that migrated through Europe in the Early Middle Ages, as evidenced by both artistic sources and the such relics as the Fourth Century costumes recovered from the Thorsberg bog.^[18] (See illustration.) Trousers in this period, generally called brais, varied in length and were often closed at the cuff or even have attached feet covering, although open legged pants were also seen.^[19]

By the Eighth Century there is evidence of the wearing in Europe of two layers of trousers, especially among upper class males.^[20] This under layer is today referred to by costume historians as “drawers,” although that usage did not emerge until the late 16th Century. Over the drawers were worn trousers of wool or linen, which in the 10th Century began to be referred to as breeches in many places. Tightness of fit and length of leg varied by period, class, and geography. (Open legged trousers can be seen on the Norman soldiers of the Bayeux Tapestry.)^[21]

Although Charlemagne (742–814) is recorded to have habitually worn his trousers, donning the Byzantine tunic only for ceremonial occasions,^[22][23] the influence of the Roman past and the example of Byzantium led to the increasing use of long tunics by men, hiding most of the trousers from view and eventually rendering it an undergarment for many. As undergarments, these trousers became briefer or longer as the length of the various medieval outer-garments changed and were met by, and usually attached to another garment variously called hose or stockings.

In the 14th Century it became common among the men of the noble and knightly classes to connect the hose directly to their pourpoints^[24] (the padded under jacket worn with armored breastplates that would later evolve into the doublet) rather than to their drawers. In the 15th Century, rising hemlines led to ever briefer drawers^[25] until they were dispensed with altogether by the most fashionable elites who joined their skin tight hose back into trousers.^[26] These trousers, which we would today call tights but which were still called hose or sometimes joined hose at the time, emerged late in the 15th Century and were conspicuous by their open crotch which was covered by an independently fastening front panel, the codpiece. The exposure of the hose to the waist was consistent with 15th Century trends which also brought pourpoint/doublet and the shirt, previous undergarments, into view,^[27] but the most revealing of these fashions were only ever adopted at court and not by the general population.

Men's clothes in Hungary in the 15th century consisted of a shirt and trousers as underwear, and a dolman worn over them, as well as a short fur-lined or sheepskin coat. Hungarians generally wore simple trousers, only their colour being unusual; the dolman covered the greater part of the trousers.^[28]

Medieval Korea[link]

The Korean word for trousers baji (originally paji) first appears in recorded history around the turn of the 15th century, but pants may have been in use by Korean society for some time. From at least this time pants were worn by both sexes in Korea. Men wore trousers both outer garments or beneath skirts while it was unusual for adult women to wear their pants (termed sokgot) without a covering skirt. As in Europe, a wide variety of styles came to define regions and time periods and age and gender groups, from the unlined gouei to the padded sombaji.^[29]

Modern Europe[link]

Around the turn of the 16th century it became convention to separate hose into two pieces, one from the waist to the crotch which fastened around the top of the legs, called Trunk Hose, and the other running beneath it to the foot. The trunk hose soon reach down the thigh to fasten below the knee and were now usually called "breeches" to distinguish them from the lower leg coverings still called hose or, sometimes stockings. By the end of the 16th century, the codpiece had also been incorporated into breeches which featured a fly or fall front opening.

During the French Revolution, the male citizens of France adopted a working-class costume including ankle-length trousers, or pantaloons, (from a Commedia dell'Arte character named Pantalone)^[30] in place of the aristocratic knee-breeches. The new garment of the revolutionaries differed from that of the ancien regime upper classes in three ways: It was loose where the style for breeches had most recently been form-fitting, it was ankle length where breeches had generally been knee-length for more than two centuries, and they were open at the bottom while breeches were fastened. This style was introduced to England in the early 19th century, possibly^{[original research?]} by Beau Brummell, and by mid-century had supplanted breeches as fashionable street wear.^[31] At this point, even knee length pants adopted the open bottoms of trousers (See Shorts) and were worn by young boys, for sports, and in tropical climates. Breeches proper survived into the 20th century as Court Dress, and also in baggy mid-calf (or three-quarter length) version known as plus-fours or knickers worn for active sports and by young school-boys. Types of breeches are still worn today by baseball and American football players.

Sailors may have played a role in the worldwide dissemination of trousers as a fashion. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors wore baggy trousers known as galligaskins. Sailors also pioneered the wearing of jeans, trousers made of denim.^{[citation needed]} These became more popular in the late 19th century in the American West because of their ruggedness and durability.

Women's trousers[link]

Amazon wearing trousers and carrying a shield with an attached patterned cloth and a quiver. Ancient Greek Attic white-ground alabastron, ca. 470 BC, British Museum, London

Although women began wearing men's trousers for outdoor work a hundred years earlier in Western countries, it was taboo for women to wear trousers. It was only in the 1960s, that trousers became acceptable for Western women to wear.^[32]

Starting around the mid 19th Century, Wigan pit brow girls scandalized Victorian society by wearing trousers for their work at the local coal mines. They wore skirts over their trousers and rolled them up to their waist to keep them out of the way. Although pit brow lasses worked above-ground at the pit-head, their task of sorting and shovelling coal involved hard manual labour, so wearing the usual long skirts of the time would have greatly hindered their movements.

Women working the ranches of the 19th century American West also wore trousers for riding. In the early 20th century aviatrices and other working women often wore trousers. Frequent photographs from the 1930s of actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn in trousers helped make trousers acceptable for women. During World War II, women working in factories and doing other forms of "men's work" on war service wore trousers when the work demanded it. In the post-war era, trousers became acceptable casual wear for gardening, the beach, and other leisurely pursuits.

In Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes, including their trousers, to work while their husbands were away from home serving in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as practical garments of workwear and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As this practice of wearing trousers became more widespread and as the men's clothing wore out, replacements were needed. By the summer of 1944, it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than they had been in the previous year.^[33]

In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced long trousers for women as a fashion item, leading to the era of the pantsuit and designer jeans and the gradual eroding of social prohibitions against girls and women wearing trousers in schools, the workplace and in fine restaurants.

Parts of trousers[link]

Parts of trousers

Pleats[link]

Pleats just below the waistband on the front typify many styles of formal and casual trousers, including suit trousers and khakis. There may be one, two, three, or no pleats, which may face either direction. When the pleats open towards the pockets they are called reverse pleats (typical of most trousers today) and when they open toward the fly they are known as forward pleats.

Cuffs[link]

Trouser-makers can finish the legs by hemming the bottom to prevent fraying.^{[citation needed]} Trousers with turn-ups (cuffs in American English), after hemming, are rolled outward and sometimes pressed or stitched into place. The main reason for the turn-ups is to add weight to the bottom of the leg, to help the drape of the trousers.^{[original research?]}

Fly[link]

A fly is a covering over an opening join concealing the mechanism, such as a zipper, velcro or buttons, used to join the opening. In trousers, this is most commonly an opening covering the groin, which makes the pants easier to put on or take off. The opening also allows men to urinate without lowering their pants.

Trousers have varied historically in whether or not they have a fly. Originally, hose did not cover the area between the legs. This was instead covered by a doublet or by a codpiece. When breeches were worn, during the Regency period for example, they were fall-fronted (or broad fall). Later, after trousers (pantaloons) were invented, the fly-front (split fall) emerged.^[34] The panelled front returned as a sporting option, such as in riding breeches, but is now hardly ever used, a fly being by far the most common fastening. Most flies now use a zipper, though button-fly pants such as Levi's 501 jeans continue to be available.

Trouser support[link]

At present, most trousers are held up through the assistance of a belt which is passed through the belt loops on the waistband of the trousers. However, this was traditionally a style acceptable only for casual trousers and work trousers; suit trousers and formal trousers were suspended by the use of braces (suspenders in American English) attached to buttons located on the interior or exterior of the waistband. Today, this remains the preferred method of trouser support amongst adherents of classical British tailoring. Many men claim this method is more effective and more comfortable because it requires no cinching of the waist or periodic adjustment.

Society[link]

In modern Western society, males customarily wear trousers and not skirts or dresses. There are exceptions, however, such as the ceremonial Scottish kilt and Albanian fustanella, as well as robes or robe-like clothing like the cassocks of clergy and the academic robes, both rarely worn today in daily use. (See also Men's skirts.)

Convertible Ventilated Trousers shown with one leg cover removed

Based on Deuteronomy 22:5 in the Bible ("The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man"), some groups, such as Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, some Baptists, a few churches of Christ, most Orthodox Jews, and a few others believe that women should not wear trousers, but only skirts and dresses. These groups do permit women to wear underpants as long as they are hidden.

Among certain groups, low-rise, baggy trousers exposing underwear became fashionable; for example, among skaters and in 1990s hip hop fashion. This fashion is called sagging or, alternatively, "busting slack."^[35]

Cut-offs are homemade shorts made by cutting the legs off trousers, usually after holes have been worn in fabric around the knees. This extends the useful life of the trousers. The remaining leg fabric may be hemmed or left to fray after being cut.

Pants Day, an internet holiday celebrating the role of pants in the formation of current society, has been proposed for the last Friday of September (opposite No Pants Day on the first Friday of May).^[36]

Law[link]

In May 2004 in Louisiana, state legislator Derrick Shepherd proposed a bill that would make it a crime to appear in public wearing trousers below the waist and thereby exposing one's skin or "intimate clothing".^[37] The Louisiana bill did not pass.

In February 2005, Virginia legislators tried to pass a similar law that would have made punishable by a $50 fine: "any person who, while in a public place, intentionally wears and displays his below-waist undergarments, intended to cover a person's intimate parts, in a lewd or indecent manner". (It is not clear whether, with the same coverage by the trousers, exposing underwear was considered worse than exposing bare skin, or whether the latter was already covered by another law.) The law passed in the Virginia House of Delegates. However, various criticisms to it arose. For example, newspaper columnists and radio talk show hosts consistently said that since most people that would be penalized under the law would be young African-American men, the law would thus be a form of discrimination against men. Virginia's state senators voted against passing the law.^[38][39]

See also[link]

Look up trousers in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Trousers

• Capri pants
• Churidar
• No Pants Day
• Oxford bags
• Pantalettes
• Thai fisherman pants
• Trouser clips
• Breeches
• Clothing sizes

References[link]

Paul Alborough, more often known as Professor Elemental, is a steampunk and chap hop musical artist.^[1] After being approached to do a concept album of hip-hop as it would sound in different time periods, Emcee Elemental created the character of Professor Elemental. While the album never came to fruition, the character stuck.^[2] Professor Elemental has since been seen performing as a solo act or in theatre acts such as Come Into My Parlour. He is also popular at steampunk events and has been a headliner at the Steampunk World's Fair and the Waltz on the Wye.

The Professor Elemental character first gained notoriety with his music video for "Cup of Brown Joy," (Directed by Moog) which got the attention of notable celebrities such as Warren Ellis. Since then he has released a new album, continued his work in the community and performed live. He is currently in a feud with fellow "chap-hop" artist Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer.^[3]

Discography[link]

The Indifference Engine[link]

1. "Splendid", 2:39
2. "Animal Magic", 2:41
3. "Fighting Trousers", 3:03
4. "Sweet Cold Colation (Feat. Miss Sadie Bell)" - 2:22
5. "The Quest For The Golden Frog" - 4:06
6. "Elixir" - 1:47
7. "A Fete Worse Than Death" - 2:23
8. "Steam Powered (Feat. Mr. Jon Clark)" - 2:00
9. "Penny Dreadful" - 4:32
10. "Cup Of Brown Joy (Tea Bag Remix)" - 3:09

More Tea?[link]

1. "Intro", 0:40
2. "The Quest For The Golden Frog (Tom Caruana remix)", 3:49
3. "Splendid (Tom Caruana remix)", 3:02
4. "Fighting Trousers (Mr Simmonds remix)" - 2:58
5. "Alright (Suhov remix)" - 3:18
6. "Fred's Amazing Animal Band" - 1:17
7. "Animal Magic (Tom Caruana remix)" - 2:41
8. "Animals (Helen Arney feat. Professor Elemental) (Mr Simmonds remix)" - 4:00
9. "Pay Me A Visit (Ajuda remix feat. Count Bass D)" - 4:39
10. "Player Hater" - 3:34
11. "Hard Act To Follow (Tom Caruana remix)" - 2:53
12. "Livin' In The 90s (Tom Caruana remix)", 3:21
13. "Moon Monkeys", 1:15
14. "0800 Sickie (Crespo remix)", 3:55
15. "Steampowered (Tom Caruana remix feat. Mr Jon Clark)", 2:16
16. "Lets Get It Done", 3:09

Special School: The Album[link]

1. "So Special", 2:55
2. "A Scolding", 2:36
3. "Too Much Info (featuring Longusto)", 3:06
4. "Joey and Marie", 2:16
5. "Pie (featuring Legs)", 2:50
6. "Wilbur and Orville", 2:38
7. "The Antidote", 2:28
8. "Hungry (featuring Vecks)", 3:51
9. "Second to None", 2:50
10. "Graveyard Shifts (featuring Dizrali)", 4:08

Forthcoming releases[link]

• "Elemental and Jon Clark are Special School" (due out July 2011)
• "The Menagerie - Hopeful Monsters" (due out September 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Professor Elemental

• Official website
• Professor Elemental on Twitter
• Elemental page on Tea Sea Records

Vaughn Monroe
Background information
Born	(1911-10-07)October 7, 1911 Akron, Ohio, United States
Died	May 21, 1973(1973-05-21) (aged 61) Stuart, Florida, United States
Genres	Big band, Traditional Pop
Years active	1940–1963
Labels	RCA Victor
Website	Vaughn Monroe Big Band Era Singer

Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader and actor, most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording and radio.

Biography[link]

Monroe was born in Akron, Ohio on October 7, 1911.^[1] He graduated from Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania in 1929^[2] where he was senior class president and voted "most likely to succeed." After graduation, he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he was an active member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. Monroe attended New England Conservatory for one semester in 1935, studying voice with Clarence B. Shirley.

He formed his first orchestra in Boston in 1940 and became its principal vocalist. He began recording for Victor's low-priced Bluebird label. That same year, Monroe built The Meadows, a restaurant and nightclub on Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts, west of Boston. He hosted the Camel Caravan radio program from there starting in 1946. It burned to the ground in December 1980.

Monroe was tall and handsome which helped him as a band leader and singer, as well as in Hollywood. He was sometimes called "the Baritone with Muscles", "the Voice with Hair on its Chest", "Ol' Leather Tonsils", or "Leather Lungs".

He recorded extensively for RCA Victor until the 1950s and his signature tune was "Racing With the Moon" (1941). Among his other hits were "In the Still of the Night" (1939), "There I Go" (1941), "There I've Said It Again" (1945), "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" (1946), "Ballerina" (1947), "Riders in the Sky" (1949), "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)" (1949), "Sound Off" (1951), and "In the Middle of the House" (1956). He also turned down the chance to record "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".^[2]

Monroe also wrote a number of songs ranging from "Army Song" to less-known ones like the "Jeannette High School Alma Mater".^[3]

Movies also beckoned, although he did not pursue it with vigor. Monroe appeared in 1944's Meet the People, Carnegie Hall (1947), Singing Guns (1950), and The Toughest Man in Arizona (1952). He co-authored The Adventures of Mr. Putt Putt, a children's book about airplanes and flying, published in 1949.

He hosted The Vaughn Monroe Show on CBS Television from 1950–51 and from 1954–55, and also appeared on Bonanza and The Mike Douglas Show, as well as The Ed Sullivan Show, Texaco Star Theatre, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Tonight Show, and American Bandstand.^[2] He was a major stockholder in RCA and appeared in print ads and television commercials for the company's TV and audio products.

Trivia[link]

After leaving the performing end of show business, he remained with RCA for many years as a TV spokesperson, executive, and talent scout. In the latter capacity, he helped give Neil Sedaka, among others, his first major exposure.

His version of 'Let it Snow' (from 1946) was featured in Die Hard and Die Hard II.

Was a licensed pilot and once owned a Lockheed-12 plane.

Was a motorcyclist.

The popularity of some of his western tunes got Vaughn his first acting film part with Singing Guns (1950).

Sold over 5,000,000 records in 1944.

Was married from 1941 to his death in 1973.

Had two daughters: Candace, born December 14, 1941, and Christina, born October 16, 1944.

Was a virtuoso on the trumpet and trombone.

Was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for Recording at 1600 Vine Street and one for Radio at 1755 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Was a model railroader, brought train car kits with him on the tour bus. Written about in Model Railroader magazine in the '80s in a column called "Looking Back with John Page".

According to surviving members of the rock group, "Doors", Monroe's song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was the influence behind their hit, "Riders on the Storm".

Personal Quotes[link]

"As a bandleader, people expect you to be artistic. But to be successful you've got to also develop a keen sense of business. On the bandstand, you sing, play or direct. A show is expected and you provide it. But off the stand, when it comes to picking new tunes, choosing spots to play, trying to work out recording dates and broadcasts, negotiating contracts, and things of that sort -- well, that's the other side of the picture. The part that doesn't show."

Death[link]

Monroe died on May 21, 1973 at Martin County Memorial Hospital, shortly after having stomach surgery .^[1][2][4] He was buried in Fernhill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in Stuart, Florida.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Vaughn Monroe Big Band Era Singer
• Singer Vaughn Monroe's road to stardom went through Jeannette
• Songs Written by Vaughn Monroe (as listed on the Vaughn Monroe Appreciation Society website)
• The Meadows

Oscar Brand (born February 7, 1920) is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs. Brand's music runs the gamut from novelty songs to serious social commentary and spans a number of genres.

He has also written a number of short stories, including:

• "The Miser's Gold," about two young brothers who dare each other to spend the night in an allegedly haunted house - only to discover that "allegedly" is inapplicable. The boys encounter the ghost of a wealthy but lonely man; greatly amused by their reasons for being there, he names them as heirs to his considerable fortune.

• "The Hitchhiker," about a young man who, on the way home from a party, picks up a beautiful young woman who turns out to be much more than she seems.

Life and Career[link]

He was born into a Jewish family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but he moved to New York as a young man where he studied at Brooklyn College.

In his long career he has played alongside such legends of folk music as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White, The Weavers and Pete Seeger. He wrote various books on the folk song and folk song collections including The Ballad Mongers: Rise of the American Folk Song, Songs Of '76: A Folksinger's History Of The Revolution and Bawdy Songs & Backroom Ballads, the latter comprising four volumes.^[1]

Brand is well known for writing catchy, themed, folk songs, including the eponymous theme to his initially CTV and then CBC television show "Let's Sing Out" and the Canadian patriotic song "Something to Sing About" (actual title: "This Land of Ours"), which is one of Canada's national folk songs.He collaborated on a number of musicals, most notably The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (a musical version of Leo Rosten's stories on the fictional character Hyman Kaplan), and A Joyful Noise.^[2][3]

He has been hosting the radio show Oscar Brand's Folksong Festival every Saturday at 10 p.m. on WNYC-AM 820 in New York City, now going into its 66th year. The show has run more or less continuously since its debut on December 10, 1945,^[4] making it the longest-running radio show with the same host, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The show celebrated its 60th anniversary on December 10, 2005. Over its run it has introduced such talents to the world as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Arlo Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter, Joni Mitchell, Peter, Paul & Mary, Judy Collins, Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger and The Weavers. In order to make sure that his radio program could not be censored he has refused to be paid by WNYC for the past 65 years.^{[citation needed]}

Although Brand was anti-Stalinist and was never a member of the Communist party, the HUAC committee referred to his show as a "pipeline of communism", because of his belief in the rights under the First Amendment of blacklisted artists to have a platform to reach the public.^[5] Accordingly, in June 1950, Brand was named in the premier issue of Red Channels as Communist sympathizer, along with Paul Robeson, Josh White, Burl Ives and Pete Seeger.

In the early 1960s, Brand brought his substantial connections in the worldwide folk music community home to his native Canada with his CTV television program Let's Sing Out. The program was staged at and broadcast from university campuses across Canada and both revived the careers of long-forgotten pioneers of the folk music movement such as Malvina Reynolds, the Womenfolk, The Weavers and others and introduced then-unknown Canadian singers such as Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot.^[6] His score for the 1968 Off-Broadway show, How to Steal An Election sent up the current belief that charisma would help a candidate win. Songs included "Charisma" (sung by Calvin Coolidge) and "Down Among the Grassroots". The album cover was decorated with election buttons including the 1968 Nixon campaign.^[7]

Brand has been awarded the Peabody Award for broadcast excellence in 1982 for his broadcast The Sunday Show on National Public Radio, and was awarded the Personal Peabody Award in 1997 (shared with Oprah Winfrey).^[8]

Brand was on the original board that created the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), which was the genesis of the creation of the Sesame Street television show. He maintains that the organization has never achieved its original purpose, which was to reach inner-city children. His demeanor led to the creation of Oscar the Grouch. This was confirmed on March 4, 2010, by Brand's son, Jordan Brand, who was appearing on Jeopardy!, in response to a question by Alex Trebek.

On January 18, 2010, WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour celebrated Brand's upcoming 90th birthday and the 65th anniversary of his radio career before an audience from Lexington, Kentucky, where host Michael Johnathan and guest Josh White, Jr. performed with Brand and talked with him about his life. On February 7, 2010, CBC Radio's "Sunday Edition" celebrated Brand's life on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• University of Manitoba's Archives & Special Collections website
• Canadian Encyclopedia profile
• The Folksong Festival
• Drinking Songs & Barroom Lore