Rodgers and Hammerstein to the musical-play form – with such masterworks as "Carousel", "The King and I" and "South Pacific". The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social thought, provided the necessary encouragement for other gifted writers to create musical plays of their own." In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." They were also honored in 1999 with a United States Postal Service stamp commemorating their partnership. The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City is
Carousel (musical) it." Rodgers considered "Carousel" his favorite of all his musicals and wrote, "it affects me deeply every time I see it performed". In 1999, "Time" magazine, in its "Best of the Century" list, named "Carousel" the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical, and this show features their most beautiful score and the most skillful and affecting example of their musical storytelling". Hammerstein's grandson, Oscar Andrew Hammerstein, in his book about his family, suggested that the wartime situation made "Carousel"'s ending especially poignant to its original viewers, "Every