Bissell’s 7 ½ Cents is a light-hearted comedy about a garment factory in a small town in Iowa.
Junction City is a shock to Sid Sorokin, the new superintendent of the Sleep Tite Pajama Company, because he used to be Chicago. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, he says, “when I woke up in the morning, even before I had my eyes open, I knew I wasn’t in Chicago anymore.”
George Abbott and Stanley Donen. “The Union Picnic,” The Pajama Game (1957). Screenplay by George Abbott and Richard Bissell based on Bissell’s 7 ½ Cents (1953). Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Choreography by Bob Fosse. Warner Brothers.
Besides adjusting to small-town life, Sid is having a tough time dealing with his anti-union boss Myron Hassler and the local union representative Catherine Williams; a redhead called Babe—especially when he falls for her. At first, Babe refuses Sid’s advances, but at the union picnic in Election Park, in a rundown place that’s still popular because it’s the only place to have a picnic with ham and beans, coleslaw, cake, ice cream, and beer—lots of it. When Sid and Babe kiss, he expects milk and honey but tastes beer. He’s still impressed. “Gosh, you’re terrific, baby.” She answers, “You’re not so bad yourself for a superintendent.”
The title was changed to The Pajama Game for the Broadway musical and the film.
Featured Image: “Once-a-Year Day.” Gladys Hotchkiss (Janis Paige) dances with the factory colleagues at the Sleep Tite picnic.
See Richard Bissell. 7 1/2 Cents. Boston: Little Brown, 1953; George Abbott, The Pajama Game (1954). Based on Richard Bissell’s 7 ½ Cents (1953). Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Choreography by Bob Fosse; George Abbott and Stanley Donen. The Pajama Game (1957). The screenplay by George Abbott and Richard Bissell is based on Bissell’s 7 ½ Cents (1953). Music and Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Choreography by Bob Fosse.