The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #37375   Message #3749280
Posted By: keberoxu
08-Nov-15 - 12:26 PM
Thread Name: Flanders & Swann
Subject: RE: Flanders & Swann
"House and Garden," a post in this thread gives that as one of the "At the Drop of a Hat" songs.

The title is "Design for Living." The phrase "House and Garden" appears in almost every verse. Leon Berger, in webpages and recording notes, says this was sung by no less than Moyra Fraser and Max Adrian, two of the biggest names in revues of the time.

"At the Drop of a Hat" was recorded more than once. If you acquire the boxed CD set (EMI probably) called "Hat-Trick," the first compact disc presents "At The Drop of the Original Hat." This is the Fortune Theater recording made for West End/London audiences. I grew up with this long-playing album and memorized its spoken bits as well as the sung lyrics.

In fact, "Design for Living" is in the DT database here. And the version preserved there is the one from the LATER "At the Drop of a Hat" performance on record; I believe this one was intended for audiences who were not limited to the UK and so there were monologues changes that took out some of the jokes that only a UK insider would know. Of course, for better or worse, I grew up with the earlier, "insider" performance and lived for years with the mystery of, "what did THAT joke mean?"

After the big-laugh line,
"The garden's full of furniture
And the house is full of plants!" line,

with the Fortune Theater audience bringing the performance to a screeching halt with clapping and guffawing, Flanders and Swann (they sure knew how to adapt their timing and delivery to a full, responsive theater of people) resume the chorus with this insider lyric:

"It doesn't make for comfort,
But it simply has to be:
You mustn't be left behind the times --
[da da da Dum da Dum da DUM]
You mustn't be left behind the Times Furnishing Com-pa-ny!
[da DUM!]"

So for fifty-odd years, in the back of my mind, was: someday, somebody has to explain to me about the Times Furnishing Company....since I'm outside the UK, I don't have a clue.

When I search online, it seems that yes, Virginia, there really is/was a Times Furnishing Company. True?