Word: grandstanding
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...used the volcano . . . today as a grandstand seat to watch the war spread out far below us. ... It was a good lesson in humility, for who could hang on to the edge of the crater peering fearfully into the seething, glowing mass that every few seconds exploded molten lava into the air, and not think what puny forces 4,000-pound blockbusters unleash as compared to this monstrosity of nature...
...stone's throw from the bandbox grandstand, fires burned and horses were shod in emergency blacksmith shops (it takes from two to three hours to shoe a harness horse: each shoe is put on at a different angle). Harness makers, like ambulant country storekeepers, set up business outside their trailers. Bearded drivers displaced Empire's familiar, flashy midget jockeys in white duck...
Then the men on the inland side of the column got a chance to cheer their favorites in a sulky race that seemed to be in full swing at a track which the marchers passed. Girls leaned from the grandstand and waved while the column pounded past, and several small boys rode bicycles in pursuit of the company...
...grandstand is bare. Its green & white striped roof is streaked and mottled. The gaudy umbrellas are folded and locked away. Inside the arched entrance of Newport's famed Casino, newly installed racks hold a few bicycles, and a sign reads: "Officers Club. For members only." From one or two of the ten still playable courts comes the subdued pock of a quiet game. Ten other courts are overrun by rank grass. Old Tom Pettitt, the Superintendent of Tennis, straw hat on head, still sits on the clubhouse porch. The deserted Championship Court is kept inviolate, awaiting the return...
...first U.S. national championships, Newport has been queen of the circuit. The first tournament consisted largely of local swells spooning English balls gently over the net for a hundred-odd spectators, be-boatered or be-parasolled. But by 1890 the Casino Governors had transplanted an old Barnum & Bailey grandstand, painted vermilion, to handle the growing crowds. The 1907 season saw the inauguration of a Tennis Ball, to which all players were invited on the generous assumption (long since out of date) that "the fact of being a tennis player is . . . held to be proof that a man is a gentleman...