
MIX WAR, ART, AND DANCING and CAT IN THE RAIN by ERNEST HEMINGWAY
Published: March 18, 2026
Duration: 16:50
AN ERNEST HEMINGWAY DOUBLE PLAY
🎙️ Mix War, Art, and Dancing
Hemingway's early newspaper sketch drops listeners into a Kansas City Y.W.C.A. ballroom during World War I, where soldiers on leave mingle with art students in a swirl of jazz, fox‑trotting, and youthful bravado. The piece captures a vivid contrast: outside, a lone woman walks through sleet on a dark, wet sidewalk, while inside, music, laughter, and flirtation pulse through the Fine Arts Institute. Soldiers swap stories, girls in bright dresses compete for dances, and the pianist shifts from ragtime to sentimental wartime tunes.