Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw

Subject: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From:
Date: 21 Mar 97 - 07:08 AM

Hi,

I'm trying to find out if the old summer camp song "Sipping Cider Through a Straw" is a public domain song, or if it's copyrighted. I wanted to use the melody, with different lyrics, in a songbook I'm writing.

Thanks!

Laura

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Ralph Butts
Date: 21 Mar 97 - 07:46 AM

I have this in "The Fireside Book of Fun & Game Songs", copyright 1974, Simon & Schuster. Of the 100 or so songs, about 20 are attributed and used by permission. Sippi' is NOT one of those so I assume it's public domain.

Somewhere, I found a web site that listed public domain songs, but I can'y find my bookmark. I'll keep trying and post the URL if I find it.

...Tiger

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Coralena
Date: 21 Mar 97 - 02:29 PM

If either of you have the lyrics to share I'ld love to have them. Thank you.

Subject: Lyr Add: SIPPIN' CIDER THROUGH A STRAW
From: Ralph Butts (check new link)
Date: 21 Mar 97 - 03:50 PM

Gere you go Coralena... From "The Fireside Book of Fun & Game Songs," copyright 1974, Simon & Schuster. Verses 6 and 8 added from campfire songs website at:

http://www.web.co.za/scouts/songs/title.html

.... Tiger

-----------------------------------

SIPPIN' CIDER THROUGH A STRAW

The prettiest girl (The prettiest girl) I ever saw (I ever saw)
Was sippin' ci- (Was sippin' ci-) der through a straw. (der through a straw.)
The prettiest girl I ever saw
Was sippin' cider through a straw.

(All stanzas repeat same pattern)

I asked that girl, "How do you draw
That apple cider through a straw?"

She smiled at me and said that I
Might come up close and give a try.

And cheek to cheek and jaw to jaw,
We sipped that cider through a straw.

And all at once, that straw did slip,
I'd sipped some cider from her lip.

The parson came to her backyard,
A-sipping cider from a straw.

And now I've got a mother-in-law,
From sippin' cider through a straw.

The moral of this little tale,
Is sip your cider from a pail!

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Susan of DT
Date: 21 Mar 97 - 05:35 PM

For another set of words - same tune, same structure - see The Other Day I Met Bear in the DT

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Bill
Date: 22 Mar 97 - 04:09 AM

Howdy,

I assume that the public domain site you are looking for is at http://ne1.bright.net/pdinfo/pdm2/ with lots of new information about 1997's house bill to extend copyrights to 95 years (and allow nothing new to fall into the public domain for 20 years), and the list of about 3000 public domain songs, and other goodies.

Allinkausay, Bill

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From:
Date: 22 Mar 97 - 03:00 PM

Carl Sandburg does other verses in his "Flat Rock Ballads"

The sweetest girl I ever saw, sat sucking cider through a straw...

I said fair maid, I do implore, why suck you cider...

She said, "Kind sir, there is no law, 'gainst sucking...

He doesn't advise drinking from a pail.

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Tamara Duran
Date: 26 Mar 97 - 11:14 AM

Here's the version we learned in the girls-only summer camp I went to:

The cutest boy I ever saw was sippin cider through a straw
I asked him if he'd show me how to sip some cider through a straw
So cheek to cheek and jaw to jaw we sipped some cider though a straw
When all at once that straw did slip we sipped our cider lip to lip
And now I've got a mother-in-law and forty-eight kids all call me "Ma"
The moral of my story is don't you sip cider through a straw

The last repeat of the last line was changed to:

...don't you sip cider you sip GUMPERS!!

"Gumpers" being, if I recall, some kind of unholy Kool-Aide/lemonade mix of stuff, which was specific to Camp Toccoa (as far as we knew, anyway).

Tamara

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: J. R. Arkema
Date: 28 Mar 97 - 05:57 PM

Two verses I've always sung:

I said to her you sure look dumb Stirring that ci der with your thumb

She said to me why doesn't it show That sipping ci der's all I know

The moral is my children dear Don't you sip ci der you sip beer.... (at end of song everyone yells ROOT BEER!)

Subject: Sippin Cider Through A Straw/another version
From:
Date: 07 Jul 97 - 04:41 AM

One version of this song is available at this site, but in our neighborhood, (LA, CA area 1950's-1960's), we had another version:

The cutest boy (the cutest boy) I ever saw (I ever saw) Was sippin' ci- (was sippin ci-) Der through a straw (der through a straw) The cutest boy I ever saw Was sipping cider through a straw.

I asked him if (etc.) He'd show me how To sip some ci- Der through a straw

Then cheek to cheek And jaw to jaw We sipped some ci- Der through a straw.

And now and then The straw would slip And we'd sip ci- Der through our lips.

Now 49 kids All call me ma From sippin' ci- Der through a straw.

The moral of This story is Don't you sip ci- Der through a straw.

The moral of this story is don't you sip ci- der through a straw -- sip Coke!

Subject: Lyr Add: sippin cider through a straw
From: GUEST,Pirx Pilot
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 11:03 AM

We had a lot of fun singing this song in 5th grade, but it was a little different. Had a few more verses, can't remember all. Here's what I remember:

SIPPIN' CIDER THROUGH A STRAW

Oh the prettiest girl (Oh the prettiest girl)
I ever done saw (I ever done saw)
Was sippin' ci- (was sippin ci-)
Der through a straw (der through a straw)

Oh the prettiest girl I ever done saw
Was sipping cider through a straw.(altogether)


[Another verse I don't remember -- not the one on DT. Something to do with two straws in one glass???]


Well she sipped first
And I sipped last
But she sipped the most
Cause she sipped so fast!


First cheek to cheek
Then jaw to jaw
We sipped our ci-
Der through a straw.


And now and then
That straw would slip
Then we'd sip our ci-
Der lip to lip.


And now I've got
A mother-in-law
And fourteen kids
Who call me 'Paw'


The moral of
this story clear
Is don't sip ci-
Der just sip beer!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: sippin cider through a straw
From: sapper82
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 11:18 AM

Nina and Frederick!

Subject: RE: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 02:26 PM

Hmmmm. I could picture myself sippin' cider with Nina. I thought for sure this was a camp song, not something that was published. It appears that once again I'm wrong. The Traditional Ballad Index cites sheet music dated 1919. I wonder, though - in his 1927 American Songbag, Sandburg gives the impression that he heard it from adults who had learned the song as kids.
-Joe Offer-

---

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Sucking Cider through a Straw

DESCRIPTION: "The prettiest girl that I ever saw Was sucking cider through a straw." "I told that gal I didn't see how She sucked the cider through a straw." "And now I've got me a mother-in-law From sucking cider through a straw."
AUTHOR: credited in the 1919 publication to Carey Morgan and Lee David
EARLIEST DATE: 1919 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: courting drink
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,SE)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
BrownIII 47, "Sucking Cider through a Straw" (1 fragment)
Sandburg, p. 329, "Sucking Cider Through a Straw" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 239, "Sipping Cider Through A Straw" (1 text)
DT, SIPCIDER*
Roud #7867
RECORDINGS:
[Arthur] Collins & [Byron] Harlan, "Sipping Cider Through a Straw" (Pathe 22157, 1919) (Edison 50627, 1920) (CYL: Edison [BA] 3846, n.d.)
Vernon Dalhart, "Sippin' Cider" (Columbia 1712-D, 1929)
SAME TUNE:
The Other Day I Met a Bear (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 44; DT, IMETBEAR)
Notes: The 1919 publication gives the name as "Sipping Cider thru' a Straw." Curiously, Sandburg, writing no later than 1927, did not seem to know of this -- implying that this was originally "folk" rather than pop. - RBW
File: San329

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions

The Ballad Index Copyright 2005 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

---

I know two tunes for this song - one is very close to one tune used for The Lone Fish Ball/One Meatball, with its distinctive three-notes rendering of "ball" applied to the "straw."

Subject: ADD Version Sucking Cider Through a Straw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 04:17 PM

Here's the version from Carl Sandburg's American Songbag (1927)

Sucking Cider Through a Straw

The prettiest girl
That I ever saw,
Was sucking cider
Through a straw.

I told that gal
I didn't see how
She sucked the cider
Through a straw.

And cheek by cheek
And jaw by jaw,
We sucked that cider
Through that straw.

And all at once
That straw did slip;
I sucked some cider
From her lip.

And now I've got
Me a mother-in-law
From sucking cider
Through a straw.

Sandburg's notes: H. Luke Stancil heard this from old men, his neighbors, in the mountains of Pickens County, Georgia. Adn Jess Ricks of Long Island heard it in Taylorville, Illinois, as a boy. R.W. Gordon surmises it may be early minstrel...The syllable "ci" in "cider" is drawn out as if to indicate a prolonged sip.

---

Click to play

Click for Digital Tradition Tune (which is the one I learned as a kid from my obnoxiously precocious little sister)

Subject: ADD Version: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 07:21 PM

Here's the sheet music version, which is quite different. I'm not sure whether this is the one referred to by the Traditional Ballad Index, but Brown/North Carolina Folklore refers to sheet music by Carey Morgan and Lee David, published in 1919.

Sipping Cider Thru a Straw
(Thipping Thider Thru a Thtraw)
(by Carey Morgan and Lee David, 1919)

(The) Sweetest girl I ever saw
Was selling cider in a grocery store.
At half-past six when the sun would set,
I used to go to see my pet,
She'd take the key and lock the door,
We'd get some cider and a big long straw.

CHORUS:
Thipping thider thru a thtraw,
We sat there for hours or more
I thipped firtht and she thipped latht
But she thipped motht because she thipped tho fatht.

We thipped till our thtraw did thlip,
and I thipped thider from her lip,
That's how I won my mother-in-law
Thipping thider thru a big, long thtraw.


When first I saw her with a straw,
Said I to "she," "What are you doing that for?"
Said she to me: "Why don't you know?
That sipping cider's all the go?"
She was so sweet, as sweet can be,
But sipping cider was the end of me.

CHORUS:
Thipping thider thru a thtraw,
We sat there for hours or more
I thipped firtht and she thipped latht
But she thipped motht because she thipped tho fatht.

Cheek to cheek like Paw and Maw,
We thipped till our lipth got sore,
Now I've got ten kids or more,
Thipping thider thru a big, long thtraw.

---

Click to play

---

From sheet music at the Levy Sheet Music Collection, attributed to Lee David and Carey Morgan, published 1919. Fatty Arbuckle, Jimmy Ah Chung, are "Chung Ha Wah 4" are listed as performers.

Subject: RE: Origins: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Azizi
Date: 12 Mar 06 - 09:55 PM

Here's another version of this song that is found on:

http://blog.oftheoctopuses.com/000518.php

[re-posted with permission of that blog's members]

I'm including the comments that the "informant" made:

"In fifth grade this girl taught me this sort of call and response song which started:

The cutest boy
(The cutest boy)
I ever saw
(I ever saw)
Was sipping ciiii-
(Was sipping ciii-)
-der through a straw
(-der through a straw)

(together:)
The cutest boy I ever sa-a-aw
Was sipping ci-i-i-der through a straw

(Three-bum-bum)

I can't remember the rest, except that they wound up married and had fourty-eight kids "who call me ma." The very end is:

The moral of
(The moral of)
This story is
(This story is)
Don't drink the ci-i-ider with the fizz
(-der with the fizz)

(together)
The moral of this story i-i-is
Don't drink the ciiider with the fizz
DRINK MILK!

With some sort of variant on the end where the "This story is" line ends it an "aw" sound and the cider doesn't have fizz, and the admonition is to not "drink ciiider with a straw."

Anyone else know it? I haven't heard it in years."
-posted by ltsk at May 4, 2005; octoblog

Subject: Lyr Add: SUCKING CIDER THRO' A STRAW
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 08:29 AM

From The Library of Congress American Memory Collection (including note):

"SUCKING CIDER THRO' A STRAW."
A VOCAL ABSURDITY.
Written and Composed by W. FREEAR.
Copyright 1894 by Chas. Sheard & Co.

1. The funniest girl that ever I saw,
Was sucking cider thro' a straw.
The funniest girl that ever I saw,
Was sucking cider thro' a straw.

2. Said I to she, "Will you show me more,
How you suck'd that cider thro' a straw?"
Said I to she, "Will you show me more,
How you suck'd that cider thro' a straw?"

3. Said she to me, "I didn't think you saw
Me sucking cider thro' a straw."
Said she to me, "I didn't think you saw
Me sucking cider thro' a straw."

4. So cheek by cheek and jaw by jaw,
We suck'd that cider thro' a straw.
So cheek by cheek and jaw by jaw,
We suck'd that cider thro' a straw.

5. Until at last, that straw did slip,
I stole some cider from her lip.
Until at last, that straw did slip,
I stole some kisses from her lip.

6. And now I've got a mother-in-law,
Thro' sucking cider thro' a straw.
And now I've got a mother-in-law,
Thro' sucking cider thro' a straw.

NOTE. After explaining that you are going to sing a Plaintive Love Song -- a sort of Lullaby, &c., state, "In order to give the necessary feeling, this song should be sung in a very doleful manner. The pathos of this touching ballad can only be obtained by its being sung by your humble servant unaided by the Piano; therefore dispense with the accompaniment as it would detract from the happy result that must be obtained." &c., &c., ad. lib. until song is commenced.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Black Hawk on works PC
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 09:11 AM

Pardon me if I've missed it but no-one has mentioned the popular hit by Guy Mitchell 'Sippin' Soda' (from the fifties I believe)

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 10:25 AM

Well back in the fifties the original would still have been in copyright, so that would presumably have been meant as a crafty way to get round that and try to keep all the loot.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 07:50 PM

This song was done often back in the '30's and '40's on the Opry by Robert Lunn. Also, the Cackle Sisters did it in the late '30's. The Cackle Sisters were GREAT yodelers! There real name was the DeZurick (sp) Sisters.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Kiwi from Tx
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 06:36 PM

I learned this song at an all girls church camp and it went
The cutest guy I ever saw was sippin cider through a straw (repeat)
I ask him if he show me how to sip that cider through a straw (repeat)
Cheek 2 cheek and jaw 2 jaw we'd sip that cider through a straw (repeat)
Now and then that straw would slip and we'd sip cider lip 2 lip (repeat)
Thats how I got my mother in law and 49 kids that call me ma (repeat)
The moral of this story is sip ciiiii-SIP ROOTBEER

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Bob Coltman
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 07:14 PM

(sp): DeZurik Sisters. Caroline and Mary Jane DeZurik, vocal duet with guitar, were one of the best novelty yodel acts ever. As a radio act in the 1930s they recorded for ARC. They perfected a burbling cackling yodel style instantly recognizable anywhere. After 1942 they recorded a large number of transcriptions for radio play. I don't know if they have been reissued, but they give a rounded view of the DeZuriks far beyond their commercial records. A great favorite of mine, and they're a must-hear!   Bob

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 13 Oct 07 - 06:55 AM

Seem to remember Nina & Frederick had a huge hit with this back in the 50's/60's.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Oct 07 - 08:42 AM

The version of "The Prettiest Girl" that I learned when I was child {1950s, Atlantic City New Jersey} was the same two verses as the GUEST,Pirx Pilot posted on 12 Mar 06 - 11:03 AM.

However, storyteller that I am, way back in 1998, when I was facilitating after-school sessions for children ages 5-12 year old, I added two more verses to "The Prettiest Girl" so that it would tell a story that teaches a moral. My version ends with a repeat of the first verse. The first part of each verse is sung in a call & response pattern with a leader singing a line, and then the group exactly repeating it. However, the group sings the last two lines of each verse in unison.

THE PRETTIEST GIRL
[Azizi Powell, (c} 1998]

Verse 1:

The prettiest girl
{the prettiest girl}
I ever saw.
{I ever saw}
was sippin ci
{was sippin ci}
der through ah straw.
{der through ah straw}
The prettiest girl I ever saw
was sippin cider through ah straw.

Verse 2
I said to her
{I said to her}
"What ya doin that for
{What ya doin that for,}
sippin ci
{sippin ci}
der through ah straw."
{der through ah straw."}
I said to her "What ya doin that for,
sippin cider through ah straw."

Verse 3
She said to me
{She said to me}
"I hurt my jaw.
{"I hurt my jaw}
and must sip cid
{and must sip cid}
der through ah straw."
{der through ah straw."}
She said to me "I hurt my jaw
and must sip cider through the straw".

Verse 4
"My poor poor jaw
{"My poor poor jaw}
hangs to the floor.
{hangs to the floor.}
I learned my lesson-
{I learned my lesson-}
I'll fight no more
{I'll fight no more."}
"My poor poor jaw hangs to the floor.
I learned my lesson- I'll fight no more".

Verse 5:

The prettiest girl
{the prettiest girl}
I ever saw
{I ever saw}
was sippin ci
{was sippin ci}
der through ah straw.
{der through ah straw.}
The prettiest girl I ever saw
was sippin cider through ah straw.

-snip-

Btw, although the "What ya doin that for, sippin cider through a straw?" is a question, we never sung that last line as a question. The line "My poor poor jaw hangs to the floor" was sung in an exaggerated doleful voice with the singer holding on to her or his jaw. This was done to imitate how "the prettiest girl" may have sounded and how she probably had to hold her jaw that was swollen because of the punch that that landed there when she was fighting ;o}. Also, I suppose "the prettiest girl" could be changed to "the handsomest boy". But we never sung it that way.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: topical tom
Date: 13 Oct 07 - 10:36 PM

I used to hear this song sung back in the 50's on The Grand Ole Opry by Homer and Jethro and by a few others whose names escape me, no doubt the ones mentioned in a few previous posts.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 02:29 PM

Wow - and we sang it:

The prettiest girl / I ever saw / was supping ci / der through a straw
I asked her if / she'd be my wife / and we'd sup ci / der all our life
Now 49 kids / all call me Pa / and sup their ci / der through a straw
The moral of / the story is / don't su your ci / der drink your milk!

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 02:58 PM

For those of you who lived in the New York area circa 1950s and remember the Hoffman Beverage Co. of Brooklyn, NY. They had a soda commercial to this tune. The lyrics wre "The prettiest girl I ever saw was sipping Hoffman through a straw."
                                              SOL

Subject: Lyr Add: HARD CIDER SONG (Crockett Family ...)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:20 PM

You can hear this version at the Honking Duck web site:

HARD CIDER SONG
Crockett Family Mountaineers, 1929.
Click to play.

At the mill where they made sweet cider, I made sweet love to you.
The mill-wheel was turning, and my heart was yearning
For one kiss, the sweetest I knew.
On the hill from the old town chapel, those evening bells did chime.
I'll always remember that golden November,
Sweet cider time when you were mine.

Sipping cider through a straw,
That's how I got my mother-in-law.
She sipped first and I sipped last,
But she sipped the most 'cause she sipped so fast.
Sipping cider through a straw,
That's how I got my mother-in-law.
She sipped first and I sipped last,
But she sipped the most 'cause she sipped so fast.

Purtiest girl I ever saw, he high hoe, he high hoe,
Sipping cider through a straw, he high, he high hoe.
Purtiest girl I ever saw,
Sittin' on the banks of the Arkansas,
Sipping cider through a straw, he high, he high hoe.

The purtiest girl I ever saw
Was sipping cider through a straw.
Now cheek to cheek and jaw to jaw,
We sipped that cider through a straw.
And now I've got a mother-in-law
From sipping cider through a straw,
And sixteen kids all call me pa
From sipping cider through a straw.

At the mill (at the mill) where they made sweet cider, I made sweet love to you.
The mill-wheel was turning, and my heart was yearning
For one kiss, the sweetest I knew.
On the hill (on the hill) from the old town chapel, those evening bells did chime.
I'll always remember that golden November,
Sweet cider time when you were mine.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Alan Ross
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 12:00 PM

Hi just going on the lyrics contained here - Isn't the Guy Mitchell massive novelty hit of the 50's "sipping soda" a variation of this earlier work. I haven't had a chance to check the copyright databases but there is a storng resemblence in the lyrics   "..sippin soda, sipping soda, sipping soda through a straw" etc. Presumably soda was much more acceptable than the alcoholic version!

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: topical tom
Date: 01 Oct 08 - 05:50 PM

I believe Lonzo and Oscar sang this song on the Grand Ole Opry in the 40's and 50's.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,B
Date: 19 Jul 09 - 03:53 PM

We sang it

The cutest boy [repeat]
I ever saw [repeat]
Was sippin cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat] The cutest boy I ever saw, was sippin cider through a straw.

I asked him if [repeat]
He'd show me how [repeat]
To sip that cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat] I asked him if he'd show me how, to sip that cider through a straw.

First cheek to cheek [repeat]
Then jaw to jaw [repeat]
We sipped that cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat]
First cheek to cheek then jaw to jaw, we sipped that cider through a straw.

Then all at once [repeat]
That straw did slip [repeat]
And we were sipping [repeat]
Lip to lip [repeat] Then all at once that straw did slip, and we were sipping lip to lip.

That's how i got [repeat]
my mother in law [repeat]
and 49 kids [repeat]
that call me mom [repeat]
That's how I got my mother in law, and 49 kids that call me mom

The moral of the story [repeat]
The story is [repeat]
Don't sip that cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat]
The moral of the story is, don't sip that cider through a straw. DRINK MILK!!!!!

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,chieromancer
Date: 06 Sep 09 - 08:53 PM

Just woke up from a nap thinking of this song. Wondered if it was part of the USBC wax cylinder digitizing project.

This what I found (different lyrics, tho'):

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=1016&query=cider&num=1&start=1&sortBy=&sortOrder=id

Title:
Sipping cider thru a straw

Performer(s):
Collins & Harlan (i.e. Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan).

Issue Number/Label:
3846: Edison Blue Amberol

Issue Number/Label:
6850: Edison Record

Year of Release:
[1919]

Audio:
Stream cylinder 5967:Download: MP3 file (2-4 MB) (Usage info)

Note:
Dubbed from Edison Diamond Disc matrix 6850.

Note:
Edison Blue Amberol 3846.

Note:
Year of release from "Edison Blue Amberol Recordings" by R. Dethlefson, v.2 (1981).

Note:
Vocal duet with orchestra accompaniment.

Personal Name:
David, Lee, 1891-1978.

Personal Name:
Morgan, Carey, 1885-1960.

Personal Name:
Collins, Arthur.

Personal Name:
Harlan, Byron G.

Subject:
Popular music--1911-1920.

Original Item Location:
Special Coll., Performing Arts - Cylinder 5967 (Take 1)

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Gale
Date: 05 Oct 09 - 02:27 AM

I remember the following version from girl scouts in Granada Hills, CA in the 1960s':

The cutest guy [repeat]
I ever saw [repeat]
Was sippin cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat]
The cutest boy I ever saw, was sippin cider through a straw.

First cheek to cheek [repeat]
Then jaw to jaw [repeat]
We sipped that cider [repeat]
Through a straw [repeat]
First cheek to cheek then jaw to jaw, we sipped that cider through a straw.

Then sometimes when [repeat]
That straw would slip [repeat]
Then we'd sip cider lip to lip [repeat]
Then sometimes when that straw would slip, we'd sip our cider lip to lip.

And now I have [repeat]
a mother in law [repeat]
and 14 kids [repeat]
that call me ma [repeat]
And now I have my mother in law, and 14 kids that call me ma.

The moral is [repeat]
My little dopes [repeat]
Don't you sip cider [repeat]
You sip coke [repeat]
The moral is my little dopes, don't you sip cider, you sip...
Dad's old fashioned root beer
Going on its third year
I think I'm gonna stop here.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Frankie Love
Date: 02 Jan 10 - 04:58 PM

This is how I learned it it at Camp May Flather girls-only camp

the cutest boy
i ever saw
was sippin ci-
Der threw a
straw
the cutest boy i ever did saw was sippin cider threw a straw

i ask im if
he showed me how
to sippin some ci-
Der threw a straw
i ask im if e showed me how to sip some cider threw a straw

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Roger M. Wilcox
Date: 02 Sep 10 - 10:16 PM

Up at YMCA Camp Big Bear (circa 1975), I learned basically the same version Gale did above. Except the last 2 verses went:

And now I have [repeat]
a mother in law [repeat]
and 48 kids [repeat]
all call me ma [repeat]
And now I have my mother in law, and 58 kids all call me ma.

The moral is [repeat]
My little dears [repeat]
Don't you sip cider [repeat]
You sip beer [repeat]
The moral is my little dears, don't you sip cider, you sip...
Dad's old fashioned root beer
Same old thing as last year
Going on its third year
Guess I'm gonna stop here.
It's carbonateeeeeeeed!

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: mayomick
Date: 03 Sep 10 - 11:35 AM

This is what I was told about the song by an old timer , I'm not sure how true it is .

At one time it was illegal to sell a straw with cider in English pubs . Drinking cider through a straw gets you drunk quicker than drinking it out of a glass .Something to do with oxygen and bubbles apparently.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Will Lever
Date: 03 Sep 10 - 11:46 AM

Sucking alcohol through a straw also has illicit connotations going back to Chaucerian times when dock workers and others would try to wedge a straw through the staves of a barrel and suck slowly the wine out - or anything else. I believe there were cases of people having been found dead in the morning from alcohol poisoning who started and couldn't stop or they didn't realise how much they were drinking because it was by nature a slow way to drink. There was a reference to it in Chaucer but I can't remember where - about people going on the straw.

It also has sexual conotations.

And of course the moral of the tale is that if you go on the straw you will end up in a heap of trouble!

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Estelle
Date: 12 Oct 15 - 02:34 PM

The version I've always heard goes like this:

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

One day I met (One day I met)
This real cute guy (This real cute guy)
While sipping cider (While sipping cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
One day I met this real cute guy while shipping cider right through a straw.

He asked me if (He asked me if)
I could show him how (I could show him how)
To sip some cider (To sip some cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
He he asked me if I could show him how to sip some cider right through a straw.

So cheek to cheek (So cheek to cheek)
And jaw to jaw (And jaw to jaw)
we sipped some cider (We sipped some cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
So cheek to cheek and jaw to jaw we sipped some cider right through a straw.

That straw did slip (That straw did slip)
I met his lips (I met his lips)
From sipping cider (From sipping cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
That straw did slip I met his lips from sipping cider right through a straw.

Now 14 kids (Now 14 kids)
All call me Mom (All call me mom)
From sipping cider (From sipping cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
Now 14 kids all call me mom from sipping cider right through a straw.

The moral of (The moral of)
This story is (This story is)
You don't sip cider (You don't sip cider)
Right through a straw (Right through a straw)
The moral of this story is you don't sip cider you drink MILK!

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Because your parents want you to grow strong bones instead of children.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: GUEST,Mary
Date: 31 Oct 15 - 06:37 PM

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Mark Ross
Date: 31 Oct 15 - 07:49 PM

There's a version here by Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboy;

Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys

It starts at about 5 minutes in.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Lighter
Date: 31 Oct 15 - 08:07 PM

The version in "Songs of the Class of '75" of the University of Michigan (1875):

SUCKING CIDER THROUGH A STRAW
(Air, - Lone Fishball)

1. The prettiest maid I ever saw,
Was sucking cider through a straw.

2. Said I to her, "Pretty maid what for
Do you suck cider through a straw?"

3. Said she to me, "I didn't think you saw
Me sucking cider through a straw."

4. Then cheek to cheek, and jaw to jaw,
We both sucked cider through a straw.

5. And if by chance the straw did slip,
I sucked the cider from her lip.

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Jim Martin
Date: 01 Nov 15 - 09:10 AM

This was the 50's Nina & Frederik recording I recall:

http://uk.ask.com/youtube?q=nina+%26+frederik+sipping+cider+through+a+straw&v=EwVL_UNsAug&qsrc=472

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: maeve
Date: 01 Nov 15 - 09:27 AM

Lighter's source calls the tune
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Lone_Fish_Ball.htm

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: Mr Happy
Date: 08 Nov 17 - 07:02 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwVL_UNsAug

Subject: RE: Origin: Sipping Cider Through a Straw
From: MartinNail
Date: 05 Nov 20 - 07:48 AM

The Wikipedia article: Sipping Cider Through a Straw seems to include a reasonable summary of the state of knowledge about the song's origin:

"Sipping Cider Through a Straw" is a folk song of uncertain origin. A minstrel song titled "Sucking Cider Thro' a Straw", with words and music attributed to W. Freear, was published in 1894 by White-Smith in the United States; this composition may be the origin of the folk song, or may owe its own origin to the folk song.