Since the middle of the 19th century, Americans purchased pianos in increasing numbers. Families and friends gathered around the piano for evenings of musical fun. Piano players needed sheet music to learn the latest songs and publishers quickly printed everyone's favorite pieces, first in black and white and later with detailed chromolithographed color covers. The advent of radio and even television simply increased public awareness of hit songs, and the production of sheet music still grew. Eventually, use of sheet music lessened along with the popularity of home pianos in the middle and later 20th century. Radio, phonographs, and personal listening devices began to replace the piano in the parlor. "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" is a patriotic song written in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. It tells the story of a chaplain (sky pilot) who sets aside his Bible and mans one of his ship's guns to fire back at the Japanese. The phrase is attributed to Lt. Howell Forgy, a chaplain aboard the USS New Orleans during the attack.
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