Symbols like the service flag furthered community morale in the United States during World War I and evolved to engender memorial organizations like Gold Star Mothers. Music supported both, with three components of the industry—Tin Pan Alley, Kitchen Table publishing, and Song Sharks—differing in key respects: the participation of women composers and lyricists, the focus on mothers and loss, and the mix of ballads, waltz songs, and marches. As the war evolved, so did the responses, with the closing months and aftermath focusing increasingly on soldiers’ fatalities and the expression of grief and mourning. Postwar changes in style and dissemination marked the end of such collective expressions.
