The number of references to the moon in the lyrics of popular music might equal the amount of stars in the skies. On display are four works whose titles reference astronomical folk phrases:

• “Shine on Harvest Moon” was a Tin Pan Alley favorite from the early 1900s usually credited to the vaudeville team of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. A “harvest moon” is not associated with a specific month, but relates to the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox when the length of the day and night are equal – usually in September but sometimes in October. The abundance of moonlight at that time aided farmers in harvesting their summer crops.
• “Sugar Moon” is a Western swing song first recorded by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in 1947 when it reached number one on the charts. A “sugar moon” references the last full moon of winter when maple trees begin to produce the sap used in maple syrup.
• First recorded in 1934, the title “Stars Fell on Alabama” was derived from a book that year by the same name. The colorful phrase refers to an extraordinary Leonid meteor shower observed in the southern state over a hundred years earlier in 1833. The 78 rpm record on display is a 1943 version of the standard by noted jazz trombonist and singer Jack Teagarden.
• Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe wrote “Blue Moon of Kentucky” in 1945, and the Stanley Brothers recorded their version in 1954. The terminology “blue moon” refers to an extra, thirteenth full moon that appears within a year – not the color of the moon. Specifically, the reference is for the third full moon in a season with four full moons. Thus, the phrase “once in a blue moon” refers to a rare event.