Freddie Shaffer and the Victory Sweethearts

Freddie Shaffer and the Victory Sweethearts – An all-female big band. Frankfort native Freddie Shaffer had experience playing in the bands of Paul Whiteman and Fred Waring. Following his work with those groups, he returned to Frankfort to teach music. At the height of the Big Band Era in 1938, Shaffer organized a group of 15 young ladies who played jazz instruments and sang. The group started out playing at lodges and other local venues in Frankfort, and then Shaffer took them to colleges, universities, and various big cities. In fact, the girls spent the whole summer of 1942 playing at Geneva on the Lake in Ohio. From there, Freddie Shaffer and the Victory Sweethearts (as they came to be known) hired on with the USO and entertained soldiers at U.S. bases in the eastern states. After the war, the Victory Sweethearts were no longer in high demand, and many members became housewives. Nonetheless, Shaffer found replacements when necessary, but he eventually called it quits in 1953 and died in 1956.