South Pacific

Glossary and Comments

• The story of South Pacific is based mostly on two stories (“Our Heroine” and “Fo’ Dolla") from James A. Michener’s 1946 collection of short stories, Tales of the South Pacific. Some characters (like Luther Billis) are taken from other stories. Michener’s book also inspired the movie version of South Pacific, as well as the movie PT-109 (the story of John F. Kennedy’s command, some of which is told in Michener’s book) and the TV shows McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island.
• According to the libretto, “The action of the play takes place place on two islands in the South Pacific during the recent war." The two islands are probably in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu); the main island is likely to be Efate, or possibly Espiritu Santo, or possibly New Caledonia (which is a French possession, south of, and not part of, the New Hebrides). From 1906 to 1980, the New Hebrides were governed jointly by the French and British, in an arrangement the governments called a “condominium", but just about everyone else called a “pandemonium". During the war, because some of the colonial powers could not exercise effective control, the political boundaries in the South Pacific were effectively in abeyance, and the islands were either under allied control or Japanese control.
• To get an idea of the geography of the region, imagine Australia.North of Australia is the second-largest island in the world, New Guinea, which is shaped like a bird, sitting, and facing west. About a thousand miles east of Australia is New Zealand, consisting of two main islands. The other islands form a kind of chain.About a thousand miles north of New Zealand is New Caledonia and its dependent islands.Farther north is the New Hebrides (Vanuatu).In a northwest line is the Solomon Islands; some of the larger islands are (moving northwesterly) Guadalcanal, New Georgia, the Treasuries, and Choiseul.The largest and farthest to the northwest is Bougainville, which is not politically part of the Solomons, but of Papua New Guinea.Also part of Papua New Guinea are two islands north of the tail of New Guinea, New Britain and New Ireland. Just south of the Solomons and west of the New Hebrides is the Coral Sea. Between Australia and New Zealand, and south of New Caledonia, is the Tasman Sea.
• The flag of the United States, the “Stars and Stripes", had 48 stars from July 4, 1912, to July 3, 1959, a total of 47 years. On July 4, 2007, the 50 star flag became the flag design of longest duration, having been in use since July 4, 1960.
• The term G.I. was originally an abbreviation for galvanized iron used in U. S. Army bookkeeping for articles (such as trash cans). Later it was assumed to stand for government issue, and was used for all military articles.  By the time of World War II it was used for the soldiers (and other military personnel) themselves.
• Bloody Mary and Liat are described as being Tonkinese. Tonkin was the name used by the French to the northernmost of the three areas into which Vietnam was divided. The capital of Tonkin was Hanoi. (Actually, the name Tonkin comes from an alternate name of the city of Hanoi.) Thus Tonkinese really means Vietnamese.
• It is likely that the character Bloody Mary got that name from the cocktail of the same name: principal ingredients are vodka and tomato juice; usually it is seasoned with spices and flavorings. The cocktail takes it name from its blood red color. The name “Bloody Mary” originated from Queen Mary I (1553-8), who persecuted protestants and had nearly 300 burned at the stake.
• The seabees are members of the Navy’s Construction Battalions (abbreviated C. B., hence seabee). They were first organized in December 1941, and worked mostly in the Pacific, where most of the construction work was needed, landing shortly after the marines, and began building airstrips, bridges, roads, gasoline storage tanks, and quonset huts for warehouses, hospitals, and housing. Their official motto is Construimus, Batuimus (We Build, We Fight); their unofficial motto is: “Can Do!" They were recruited more for their skills rather than fitness, and so their average age in World War II was 37, much older than the average sailor.
• The Shore Patrol is the military police for the Navy and Marine Corps and the Coast Guard when on shore leave. The British Royal Navy also has their Shore Patrol.  Their main function is to make sure sailors and marines on shore leave do not become too rowdy.

Act I, Scene 1

• Teakwood is a hardwood that grows in monsoon climates, such as India, Indochina, and the Philippines.  It is highly desired for furniture and flooring.  Two of the three species are endangered.
• A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves found in East Asia and Southeast Asia. They may be used for religious purposes, as many are located near Buddhist temples, but may also be used as watchtowers, or simply observation towers.
• Cacao is an evergreen tree (Theobroma cacao) native to the tropical rain forests of the Americas, growing below the canopy level. From the tree are derived cocoa and chocolate.
• Hibiscus is a genus of about 200 species of plants native to warm climates, mostly known for their large showy flowers.
• Bougainvillea is a genus of thorny woody vines that grow in warm climates.  Their flowers are small and white, but the flowers are surrounded by bracts of various bright colors, which are often assumed to be the flowers. Bouganvillea is named for Louis Antoine de Bougainville, Count of Bougainville, a French military officer who distinguished himself in the French and Indian War, and later became the first Frenchman to circumnavigate the globe. Bougainville, the largest island in the Solomons, but part of the nation of Papua New Guinea, is named for him.
• Frangipani is a genus (Plumeria) of plants with small white or pink flowers with poisonous sap.
• A Eurasian is a person of mixed European and Asian ancestry, usually from a European father and East Asian or Polynesian mother.
• Nellie refers to herself as a “hick” from the “sticks”. Perhaps she is alluding to the famous headline from the July 17, 1935 issue of Variety: “Sticks nix hick pix”; often incorrectly quoted as “Hix Nix Stix Pix” (although that is a title of a novel).
• The whippoorwill (Caprimulgus vociferus) is a medium-sized night bird, more often heard than seen, named onomatopoetically from its call.
• Cognac is a type of brandy made in the Cognac region of France according to strict rules.  (Brandy made elsewhere in France, or in other countries, or not conforming to all the rules, cannot be called cognac.) Recently cognac has become popular in hip hop culture, which may have saved the industry, since its popularity elsewhere had been declining.
• Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (1871-1922) was a French author best known for his monumental work A la recherche du temps perdu (“In Search of Lost Time”, or, less accurately, “Remembrance of Things Past”, after Shakespeare, sonnet 30: this title was used for the English translation over Proust’s objection).
• Anatole France was the pen name of Jacques Anatole François Thibault (1884-1924), a French author, whose works were on the Index of Prohibited Books in the 1920s.
• André Paul Guillaume Gide (1869-1961) was a French writer of the late XIX century and first half of the XX century. His works tried to reconcile his traditionalist upbringing with his need to be fully himself, including his homosexuality.  He briefly toyed with communism, but repudiated it after a visit to the Soviet Union. His works were placed on the Index of Prohibited Books in 1952.

Act I, Scene 2

• Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999), born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr, played his entire major league career (1936-42 and 1945-51) for the New York Yankees. He had played for the San Francisco Seals (1932-35) and had been a sensation in the Pacific Coast League. He was known as the “Yankee Clipper”, and he achieved a 56-game hitting streak in 1941; previously he had achieved a PCL-record 61-game hitting streak with the Seals in 1933. He was married to Marilyn Monroe for less than a year (1954). In 1961 the two became involved again, and he may have been close to marrying her again when she was found dead in 1962. For the next 20 years he had a half dozen red roses delivered to her tomb three times a week.
• Betel nuts are the seeds of the betel palm.  Chewing betel nuts is traditional in many Asian and South Pacific cultures.  They are addictive, stain the teeth red, cause mouth ulcers, and are a known carcinogen.
• Pepsodent is a brand of toothpaste. It was very popular until the mid 1950s. It was slow to add fluoride, and lost market share to such brands as Crest, Colgate, and Gleem. Today it is a bargain brand, sold primarily at discount stores.

Act I, Scene 3

• PBY was a flying boat used by the Navy in the 1930s and 1940s. The PB stood for Patrol Bomber, and the Y was the Navy’s designation of the manufacturer, Consolidated Aircraft (which became Convair in 1942).
• “Rectius vives, Licini, neque altum/Semper urgendo, [neque] dum procellas [/cautus horrescis, nimium premendo/litus iniquum.”] (There is a word missing as quoted in the script: the second neque.) These are the opening two lines from Horace’s Ode X from Book II, which can be translated something like: “Rightly will you live, O Licinius, if you neither urge (your ship) on the deep, cautiously to avoid the storms, nor pressing too close to the treacherous shore..”
• Rutgers is the state university of New Jersey, and Princeton, a member of the Ivy League, is in some sense a rival. The first intercollegiate football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton. But Princeton was known as an upper-class institution, and Rutgers middle class.  It was told that when the two met in football, Princeton players would tell their opponents, Hit me easy, you will be working for me someday.
• Because nurses in the service are officers, but are still mostly single and young, the pool of service men they would be interested in dating are mostly enlisted men. Most of the male officers are older, and many are married.But the military does not allow dating between officers and enlisted personnel. Thus, despite the nurses in the chorus, the sailors, marines, and seabees on the island are frustrated, because their are no women available to them.
• Tokyo Rose is the generic name given to about a dozen women broadcasting Japanese propaganda in English over the radio during World War II.

Act I, Scene 4

• A jerry can is a large metal rectangular can for holding gasoline or other liquids, frequently seen strapped to the side of a jeep. It has three handles. The name comes from the British in World War II. Jerry is British slang for “German”. The British began the war using simple rectangular cans, such as are used today for paint thinner. They found the Germans using a can of superior design. They “reverse engineered” it and adopted it, and named it for the Germans. (There is some indication, however, that this usage was not adopted until as late as 1943, in which case their use in this show would be anachronistic.)

Act I, Scene 5

• The can is military slang for lavatory, and, hence, for that part of the anatomy that sits on the can.
• Shaker Heights is a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The land was settled by the Shakers in 1822. The colony prospered during the middle of the 19th century, but closed in 1889. The land then was developed as a streetcar suburb and the first garden-style suburb in Ohio. The area was incorporated as a village in 1912, and became a city in the 1930s. It maintains strict building codes to preserve its character, and it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Act I, Scene 6

• Born Frances Rose Shore, Dinah Shore grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and graduated from Vanderbilt University. While in college, she became a radio singer.  She took the name “Dinah” from her radio show theme song.  She had many recording successes in the 1940s, and sang for the troops in Normandy and elsewhere in Europe. In the 1950s she became hugely popular on her TV variety shows.

Act I, Scene 11

• Champagne is, strictly speaking a kind of sparking wine from the Champagne region of France, made according to traditional methods.  The French had a provision inserted into the Treaty of Versailles requiring that no other wine bear the name champagne.  But, because the United States is not a party to the Versailles Treaty, many California vintners have labeled their sparking wines “California Champagne”.  However, because the reputation of many California sparkling wines have gained their own reputation, they have ceased using that appellation, but have included the description “traditional method”, or “méthode traditionnelle”, or “méthode champenoise” (although the last terminology used outside the Champagne region is restricted).  Currently, I think only Korbel still uses the name “California Champagne”.

Act II, Scene 4

• The song “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” was thought at the time to be too “preachy” for a musical comedy, and there was talk of removing it. But James Michener himself argued vigorously for its retention.  It led to many negative comments in the South. This controversy continues today: there are some (including me) who believe that the story itself argues against racism well enough without the song, and shows how two characters deal with a conflict between racist feelings and love.

Act II, Scene 5

• The brig is the jail or prison on a ship or naval base or marine corps base. (In the army and air force the lockup is called the guardhouse or stockade.)

Act II, Scene 6

• The Bronze Star is the ninth highest military decoration, and fourth highest combat award in the United States Armed Forces.  It is awarded for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service”.  The first bronze stars were authorized and awarded in 1944, but were also awarded retroactively to the beginning of World War II.  Because the time setting of South Pacific is November and December of 1942, so Brackett and Billis’s reference is anachronistic.
• From their position as coast watchers, de Becque and Cable can see the islands of Bougainville, The Treasuries, Choiseul (named for Etienne-François, duc de Choiseul, French military officer, diplomat, and statesman, who cemented the “diplomatic revolution”, the alliance of France and Austria in 1757; he became secretary of state for war [1761-70], and directed affairs in the Seven Years War; Bougainville named the largest of the Solomon Islands for him), and New Georgia, all islands in the Solomons. (The islands named “Marie Louise” and “Bali Ha’i” are fictional. I’m not sure whether they’re supposed to be in the Solomons or the New Hebrides--now the nation of Vanuatu.)

Act II, Scene 7

• The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft used in World War II. The Americans called them Zekes.
• Vella Lavella is an island in the Solomons.  To the east is New Georgia; to the west, the Treasury Islands.

Act II, Scene 8

• An Immelmann is an aerial maneuver named for German World War I ace Max Immelmann.  It involves bringing the plane into a vertical climb and continuing so that the plane is inverted and heading in the opposite direction; the pilot then executes a 180° roll to return to normal orientation.(This maneuver is used more in air shows than in combat; in combat the pilot is in a hurry to get away!)
• A wingover is “a flight maneuver or stunt in which an airplane enters a climbing turn until almost stalled and is allowed to fall while the turn is continued until normal flight is attained in a direction opposite the original heading.” (from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved March 18, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wingover)
• Cape Esperance is the northernmost point on Guadalcanal (one of the southern Solomon Islands--the native name is Isatabu--the present capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, is located on Guadalcanal, because of the extensive infrastructure built during the war).  The Battle of Guadalcanal was a series of land, sea, and air battles fought between the allies (United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain and her dependencies) and Japan between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943, resulting in an allied victory, and forms the back story of South Pacific. (After the Battle of the Solomon Islands, the US Navy did not lose another battle.  This record continues to this day.)

Act II, Scene 11

• LCT refers to Landing Craft, Tank; an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beaches.

Act II, Scene 12

• Battleships are large, heavily armored warships with the largest guns.  By the time of World War II, battleships were nearly obsolete as fighting ships, being overshadowed by carriers, and were used primarily for coastal bombardment. Cruisers were similar in size to battleships but were less heavily armed. Destroyers are fast and maneuverable ships designed as escorts for battle groups; today, destroyers have largely superseded cruisers.
• The Curtiss P-40 was a fighter and ground-attack aircraft built between 1938 and 1944.

See also:

• Translations of French lyrics

References:

• Many definitions are from Dictionary.com.
• Many references are from Wikipedia

• Last updated: 04/23/2020.
• For additions, suggestions, corrections, or comments on this glossary, please email me:  tf_mcq <at> yahoo.com.
• Return to the South Pacific main page.
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