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Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy)
DigiTrad:
I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO
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Subject: ADD Version: Chicago From: Rugger Date: 17 Mar 98 - 05:34 AM I'm looking for more verses to this rugby song. Could you post any that you have? Thanks. CHICAGO CHORUS: I used to work in Chicago, In an old department store, I used to work in Chicago, I don't work there any more. A lady came in for a ruler. A ruler from the store. A ruler she wanted, my twelve inches she got! Ohhh! [cheers] I don't work there anymore. OTHER VERSES liquer / lick her I did seafood / lobster; my crabs my help / my AIDS hammer / banged candy / Kit-Kat; four fingers fishing pole / rod fuck / fuck paper / reamed nails / screwed screws / nailed ciragettes / Camels; humped shampoo / Johnson & Johnson; johnson beef / porked meat / sausage carpet / laid wool / felt stockings / hosing drain cleaner / Drano; clean pipes pony / horse; ridden donut / glazed; cream-filled throw rug / rug-burned soldiers / Navy Seals; semen gift wrapping / wrapping; stuffing beefsteak / chuck; fucked novel / Dickens; dick iron / steam; reamed ACTION VERSES asprin / crack [show buttcrack] Wrigley's / gum; bum [show buttcrack] film / color; exposed [show dick] video / Free Willy [show dick] |
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Subject: RE: Chicago From: Earl Date: 17 Mar 98 - 10:44 AM hat/felt/felt her I did cake/layer/lay her I did shoe/pump/pump her I did poultry/goose ... dress/jumper ... covers/spread ... |
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Subject: ADD: Fit for Any Man From: Bruce O. Date: 17 Mar 98 - 04:10 PM This is another "Jack of all Trades" ballad. See: "Jolly Jack of All Trades" c 1680, ZN1198 in my broadside index; "Jolly Trades- men" in 'Pills to Purge Melancholy', VI, p. 91, 1720; "The Dublin Jack of All Trades" in Hugh Shields' 'Old Dublin Songs'.
The 'Pills' song is in a MS of the 1740's, but more interesting in the MS is this rare one of "Jill of all trades"
Fit for any man.
Im a pretty maid and I swear by my life
If] he be a baker I vow and protest
If he be a joyner or any of them
If he be a Butcher a jolly young man
If he be a weaver when in bed
If he be a shoemaker poor or rich
If he be a brick layer so they say
If he be a Brazier when in bed
I]f he be a Barber spruce and brave
If he] be a soldier
If] he be a Taylor neat and fine
Ba]ker horner or any of them
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Subject: ADD: Haben a Boo and a Banner From: Bruce O. Date: 19 Mar 98 - 02:27 PM I forgot a Scots 'Jack of all trades' ditty From Arthur Argo's recording, Prestige/ International 13048 Side B, #2. Perhaps some once can fill in or correct the [?] in my transcription.
[Haben a Boo and a Banner]
Oh my father was hanged for sheep stealin' [father- long a]
Oh my grannie she farted a fyken
When I was a cobbler in London
When I was a drapper in London
When I was a young man in London
When I was a hedger and ditcher
Added to DT April 98 |
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Subject: RE: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: GUEST,Caseymee@aol.com Date: 10 Mar 04 - 12:57 AM I used to work in Chicago in a department store. I used to work in Chicago, I did but I don't anymore. A lady cam in for a cake one day, I asked her what kind she adored. Layer she said, and lay her I did, I'll never work there anymore! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Jim Dixon Date: 11 Mar 04 - 10:02 PM Related songs in other threads: CHICAGO, in Rugby Football Songs CHICAGO, in Help: Illinois/Chicago Songs I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO, in Double Entendre Anyone? MY NAME IS YON YONSON, in Lyr Req: My Name Is Yon Yonson - that's all??? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: GUEST,skipper Date: 11 Apr 04 - 06:17 PM I used to work in Chicago an old department store. I used to work in Chicago, I don't work there anymore. A man came in looking for some Shakespear Shakespear from the store? Horatio he wanted, Felatio he got! I don't work there anymore! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Once Famous Date: 11 Apr 04 - 06:19 PM Amazingly, I have 120 years of continuous family history in Chicago, have been a media hound here for years, and have never heard of this song! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: RWilhelm Date: 11 Apr 04 - 10:56 PM It probably originated somewhere else. The chorus almost certainly is from "The Bowery, the Bowery, I'll never go there anymore." |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 12 Apr 04 - 01:16 PM Martin Gibson- Chicagoans probably got so tired of this ditty many years ago that they erased it from memory. Who can blame them? As children we used to sing "I used to woik in Sheboygan." We had no idea where Sheboygan was, it fit and sounded exotic. Being western, We added a fake Brooklynese accent to emphasize eastern foreigness. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Big Jim from Jackson Date: 12 Apr 04 - 02:10 PM Oscar Brand has a good recording of theis song on one of his Bawdy Ballads recordings. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: GUEST Date: 13 Apr 04 - 07:42 AM Heres a few things she asked for / received... Kentucky Fried Chicken / Brown Wings Patio Door / Rear Entry Kit Kat, Coke, Sandwich and Apple / Lunch Box Black & Decker / Drilling Boxing Gloves / Fisting Luxury Bathroom Fitting / Golden Shower Pirates Flag / Jolly Rogering |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Jim Dixon Date: 14 Apr 04 - 09:22 PM "Brown wings"? Uh...I'm afraid to ask what that means. I did a Google search and I found mostly descriptions of various birds, bats, and butterflies, and a couple of cryptic remarks on various British web sites, that didn't give a full explanation... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 14 Apr 04 - 10:03 PM Buffalo wings? |
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Subject: Lyr Add: I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO From: Jim Dixon Date: 18 Aug 17 - 04:01 PM You can hear this recording at The Internet Archive. The arrangement definitely puts it in the western swing genre. I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO As recorded by Tin Ear Tanner and His Back Room Boys, 1946. CHORUS: I used to work in Chicago, in a department store. I used to work in Chicago; I did, but I don't any more. Now a lady came in and she asked for shoes. "What kind?" I asked at the door. "Boot," she said and boot she got, And I don't work there no more. CHORUS Now a lady came in for some fowl. "What kind?" I asked at the door. "Goose," she said and goose she got, And I don't work there no more. CHORUS Now a lady came in for a chicken. "What part?" I asked at the door. "Neck," she said and neckin' she got, And I don't work there no more. CHORUS Now a lady came in for some eggs one day. "What kind?" I asked at the door. "Fresh," she said and fresh I got, And I don't work there no more. CHORUS Now a lady came in for a carpet. "What kind?" I asked at the door. Now "A rug," she said and a hug she got, And I don't work there no more. CHORUS Now a lady came in for some groceries. "What kind?" I asked at the door. "Butter," she said and what do you know? I don't work there no more. I don't work there no more. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Lighter Date: 13 May 18 - 05:03 PM Earliest: I used to work in Chicago -- I used to but no more. I used to work in Chicago, In a hosiery store. A lady asked for some garters, I asked the kind she wore: "Rubber," she said. Rubber I did. I did – but not any more. From "National Lithographer," Vol. 30 (1923). Also in "The Squib" (Massachusetts Agricultural College [now U. of Massachusetts, Amherst]), likewise 1923. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 06:03 AM I used to work in a department store, July 1922: Dry Goods Merchants Trade Journal, pg 121. See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dry_Goods_Merchants_Trade_Journal/mKwYlyvKihMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22worked+at+the+Hosiery+counter%22&pg=RA7-PA121&printsec=frontcover |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 06:05 AM I used to work in a Department store in Chicago. October 1, 1921, Holstein-Friesian World See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Holstein_Friesian_World/zKQTtX0XgGcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=used+to+work+in++i+dont+anymore&pg=RA3-PA90&printsec=frontcover |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Mrrzy Date: 13 Jul 23 - 08:57 AM Oscar Brand is whose version I grew up with... Lyrics |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Chicago / I Used to Work in Chicago From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 09:26 AM Nice finds, John. Oscar Brand was the Peter Buchan of American bawdy song. But he could sing, too! |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jul 23 - 01:52 PM Here is the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index: I Used to Work in ChicagoDESCRIPTION: The singer works in a succession of stores, asking female customers their desires, mistakenly fulfilling them and getting fired.AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1946 (recording, Three Bits of Rhythm) KEYWORDS: bawdy humorous FOUND IN: Australia Britain(England) US(Ro,SW) REFERENCES (4 citations): Cray-EroticMuse, pp. 245-251, "I Used to Work in Chicago" (3 texts, 1 tune) Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 277, "In Chicago"/"Department Store" (notes only) LibraryThingCampSongsThread, post 123, "I Used to Work in Chicago" (1 mention, from user nohrt4me2, posted September 28, 2021) DT, CHCAGO* Roud #4837 RECORDINGS: Pearl Trio [Larry Vincent], "I Used to Work in Chicago" (Pearl 53-A, 1947) Three Bits of Rhythm, "I Used to Work in Chicago" (Modern Music MM118, 1946) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "Haben Aboo an a Banner" cf. "The Jolly Tradesmen" cf. "My Husband's a Mason" (theme) NOTES [76 words]: Oscar Brand has claimed a copyright of some of the verses of this song current in oral tradition. - EC Larry Vincent claimed to have written the basic song, and it certainly has his, er, style. But the Three Bits of Rhythm record predates his, and they claim authorship credit themselves. Who knows? -PJS Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 277, says that this "occasionally is banned, because its verses can be risqué." "Can be"? Are there any that aren't? - RBW Last updated in version 6.3 File: EM245 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2023 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO (Digital Tradition lyrics) I used to work in Chicago, in a department store, I used to work in Chicago. I did, but I don't anymore. A lady came in, and asked for some cake I asked her what kind she'd adore-- "Layer," she said, so layer I did I don't work there anymore. I used to work in Chicago, in a department store, I used to work in Chicago. I did, but I don't anymore. A lady came in, and asked for a fowl I asked her what kind she'd adore-- "A goose," she said, so I gave her a goose I don't work there anymore. (similarly) A lady came into the hat shop, I asked, "What kind would you like?" "Felt" she said, felt I did A lady came in for a sleeper I asked, "which berth would you like?" "Upper" she said; Up 'er I did A lady came in for a waterbottle I said, "what kind would you like?" "Rubber " she said; rub 'er I did A lady came in for a sweater I asked, "what kind would you like?" "Jumper, she said"; jump 'er I did A lady came in for a ticket I asked, "Where would you like to go?" "Bangor," she said; bang 'er I did Also: Hardware...nails....nail her I did Hardware...screw....screw her I did Fruit......plums....plumb her I did Cinnamon...sticks...stick her I did Peas.......split....split her I did Milk.......cream....cream her I did Covers.....spread...spread her I did Rope.......jump.....jump her I did Booze......liquor...lick 'er I did note: First two verses from the streets of Brooklyn, ca 1938. Additional verses from More Rugby Songs, via AJS. And from The Erotic Muse, Cray. RG @work @kids @bawdy filename[ CHCAGO TUNE FILE: CHCAGO CLICK TO PLAY RG, AJS, EC
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 02:43 PM The lyrics I posted 13 May 18 (and no others) were printed in at least seven U.S. newspapers in 1923, beginning with the Winston County Journal (Louisville, Miss.) on May 11. Earlier, and closer to Brand's words, from the Washington [D.C.] Times (Dec. 28, 1921), credited simply to a "Peggy Bee": I used to work in Chicago, In a big department store; I used to work in Chicago, Up on the second floor. A lady came in for some garters, I asked her what kind she wore, "Rubber," she said, and I DID, And I ain't got my job any more. Sounds like something from a burlesque show. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 02:47 PM Ironically, just before Joe posted this, I rewrote the BI entry for this song based on what was posted here. Obviously the earliest date is now 1921. The interesting thing is that all three of the earliest versions are basically the same single verse. Was there more? And was it a song? I don't think we have enough data. As regards the Larry Vincent and the Three Bits of Rhythm versions, it seems likely that they took something already extant and expanded it, which would explain their confusing inter-relations. Thanks to all those who found early versions; your work will be cited in version 6.6 of the Ballad Index, which will probably appear around September. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:13 PM Sammy Kaye and his orchestra recorded "I Used to Work in Chicago" (with "It's a Lie" on the flip side) on RCA Victor 20-2037 in 1946. The credits are to "Larry Vincent - Sonny Skylar." On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8YqNKu0n3g The song was also recorded earlier the same year by Tin Ear Tanner and His Back Room Boys Dusty Ward and His Arizona Waddies Larry Vincent and His Look Out Boys Three Bits of Rhythm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IO4oIyNyY Larry Vincent himself in 1949: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr42K7BN44U |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:14 PM Thanks, Bob. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:30 PM I love threads like this. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:42 PM Lighter wrote: Sammy Kaye and his orchestra recorded "I Used to Work in Chicago" (with "It's a Lie" on the flip side) on RCA Victor 20-2037 in 1946. (Etc.) Now this is truly interesting. Notice what we have: a whole bunch of printings of a single verse in the early 1920s, but no recordings. Then, just after World War II, we have a similar explosion, but this time of recordings. Obviously that says that the piece has a very strong (if perhaps juvenile) appeal -- but it also hints that the single verse is the original, and that someone c. 1946 set the tune and added some lyrics, and that version again became popular. One might conjecture that the poem was converted to a song by Vincent and Skylar, although I'd hate to bet on it. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: GUEST,and e (no cookie) Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:45 PM I have more material but can't post now. Robert I have 1946 copyright notices and a March 1945 printed reference. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: cnd Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:46 PM I'd wager the post-war proliferation was from soldiers who learned the song during WWII returning home, similar to Mademoiselle from Armentieres in the previous war. The song stuck around college fraternities and similar progenitors of bawdy songs (I saw it in a few college periodicals in the 1920s and 1930s, but none earlier than 1923), where they passed it down orally. Then, in war, soldiers, possibly from similar frats, or possibly just bored, sang them for each other, and then from there it took off. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 03:56 PM cnd wrote, I'd wager the post-war proliferation was from soldiers who learned the song during WWII returning home, similar to Mademoiselle from Armentieres in the previous war. The song stuck around college fraternities and similar progenitors of bawdy songs (I saw it in a few college periodicals in the 1920s and 1930s, but none earlier than 1923), where they passed it down orally. Then, in war, soldiers, possibly from similar frats, or possibly just bored, sang them for each other, and then from there it took off. This is certainly not unreasonable; you are absolutely right that such things happened! And we know that the piece survives in tradition, because of the person on LibraryThing who alluded to the piece in 2021. The difficulty is that none of the many collections of World War II verse seems to include it; there are no World War II collections in Steve Roud's index, and none of my as-yet-unindexed books of World War II poems have it. That's not proof, but I hate to hypothesize an original when we have an extant alternative. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 04:15 PM I had the same idea. "The Bayonet" (Columbus, Ga.), Oct. 18, 1945, as a throwaway line: "I useta woik in Chicago, in a department store." If "ditty" means song, this is from a March 8, 1942, in Virgil Thomson, Music Chronicles (1945): "The Juilliard School used to give modern operas. They did but they don't any more, as the ditty hath it." |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 04:27 PM Come to think of it, the tune is a lot like "It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo,'" rec. by Wendell Hall in 1923. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: cnd Date: 13 Jul 23 - 05:21 PM Au contraire, Robert: I found it in 4 WWII songbooks (though only two were period). Which doesn't change your overall point, being that you'd expect it to be more prevalent given the wide post-war recording popularity. Of course, it is also referenced in newspapers as being sung some. The first reference I found was in December 1943, when one columnist relayed that "The evening's favorite [song] was that famous carol, 'I Used to Work in Chicago'" (The Slip Stream [Supplement of the Casper Herald-Tribune], December 29th, 1943, p. 5). Columnist Harold Martin described in April 1945 an air force recruit who could sing 2,000 verses of the song (The Atlanta Constitution), and it was also sung by post-war occupation forces (The Bradley Tech, November 15th, 1945, p. 5). Not a great deal of references, but it was certainly sung. Perhaps the explanation is that it was sung *some* during the war, then the Three Bits of Rhythm sang it and it sold well, and others rushed to cover it. Or perhaps it jogged enough of a memory to bring something to the mind's front. Songbooks: - Songs of the Century (1945) [Songbook of the 100th Bomb Group] - Song Book of the Wild Hares - Bawdy Ballads and Dirty Ditties of the War Time RAF - Army Air Force lyrics : a collection of WW II U.S. Army Air Force marching songs, poems, and parodies to popular songs of the period and the past (reference only) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 05:51 PM cnd wrote: Au contraire, Robert: I found it in 4 WWII songbooks (though only two were period). Which doesn't change your overall point, being that you'd expect it to be more prevalent given the wide post-war recording popularity. OK, none of the field collections of WWII songs have it. :-) Which is the only thing I checked. Given your data, I agree, you are almost certainly right that it proliferated before all the recordings, and the recordings reflected that. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 06:23 PM For what it's worth, I looked up what Ed Cray had to say about this in The Erotic Muse. He learned it himself in high school in 1948 -- but, of course, that's after the recording explosion, so that's not proof of anything. He mentions some analogous songs like those mentioned by Bruce O. above. His tune has the same opening phrases as "Malbrouck"/"We Won't Go Home Until Morning"/"The Bear Went Over the Mountain"/"Pig in the Parlor," although the final phrases are different. He observes that line that is similar to "The Bowery" also has a tune that is similar to that part of "The Bowery," and suspects that the "Malbrouck" tune was attracted to the latter. He mentions that Kenneth J. Larson's unpublished 1952 article "Barnyard Folklore of Southeastern Idaho," which includes collections going back to the early 1930s, included a version of the piece. It's in the 1971 edition of Immortalia, but not in the original edition. Oscar Brand wrote to Cray in 1971 saying that he added to the piece and claiming credit for its popularity based on his 1951 version. Given the list of recordings before that, I think we can disallow that claim, though Brand probably did add verses. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:22 PM I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO 2:42 Liner notes to the song "I used to work in chicago" on the Beat The Band To The Bar cd. Credit is given to Moe Jaffe, Louis Prima, Larry Vincent. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:23 PM VINCENT, LARRY. Pg 609, Catalog of copyright entries v.41 pt.3 group 2 1946. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015036779455&view=1up&seq=597&q1=%22work%20in%20chicago%22 |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:24 PM VINCENT, LARRY. I used to work in Chicago; https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015077982042&view=1up&seq=1315&q1=%22used%20to%20work%22 |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:25 PM RUDOLPH, THEODORE. We used to work in Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions - Part 3 - Page 1069, 1946. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalog_of_Copyright_Entries/r0ljAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22we+used+to+work+in+chicago%22&pg=PA1069&printsec=frontcover |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:28 PM I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO From the Songs of the Century. Mimeographed songbook of the 100th Bomb Group [The Bloody Hundred], dated March, 1945. See online here: https://archive.org/details/1945songsofthecentury/page/10/mode/1up |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 07:42 PM and e wrote: I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO 2:42 (Moe Jaffe, Louis Prima, Larry Vincent) (and several more). Thank you for posting these. Moe Jaffe was co-author of "I'm My Own Grandpa," so this fits his style, and Larry Vincent was, I suspect, the first person to record "Roll Me Over in the Clover," so both would be reasonable candidates for authorship -- except that Jaffe was hardly old enough to have created the original version. I think these are Ye Standard Fake Copyright Claims To Avoid Royalties. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 13 Jul 23 - 08:34 PM More splendid info from John and Carter. Harold Martin's piece in the Constitution describes Corsairs landing on the ground rather than on an aircraft carrier, so my guess is that the singer he describes (actual or a composite) is a Marine Corps pilot. Only the Marines flew Corsairs from island bases. Bennett's RAF book is made up of stuff he gathered from all over, including after WW2. It's valuable for sure but not 100% reliable for 1939-45 specifically. The song, however, must have been widespread during the war. The 100th Bomb Group was stationed in England (like Bennett), while Harold Martin was writing from "Somewhere in the Pacific." You can hear Oscar Brand's version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoyKhiS4law Brand's fourth volume of BS&BB was released in March, 1957. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 13 Jul 23 - 09:00 PM Lighter wrote: Harold Martin's piece in the Constitution describes Corsairs landing on the ground rather than on an aircraft carrier, so my guess is that the singer he describes (actual or a composite) is a Marine Corps pilot. Only the Marines flew Corsairs from island bases. Nitpick: I suspect you're right about it being a Marine pilot -- the Marines had the plane before the U. S. Navy did, because it was such a terror to land that they Navy worried about flying them from a carrier. But it does not absolutely follow that it was a Marine pilot. There was a technique used in the Pacific war called "shuttle bombing": If you have carriers and have an air base on shore, planes would fly off the carrier, bomb their target, land on the land base, re-load, and fly back to their carriers. This was often more efficient than going back to the carrier because (1) the planes didn't have to turn around, and (2) the distance from carrier to target to land was often less than the distance from carrier to target back to carrier. This technique was used in the Philippines and some other island campaigns. The date of the story fits Okinawa (which began in late March 1945, with the story printed April 1945). So the mention of flying from land can't be used as absolute proof that it was a Marine pilot. And, yes, I am being nitpicky. More important, really, is the mention of "2000 verses" of the song in 1945. This represents pretty clear proof that I was wrong earlier about it being set to music in 1946! |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 14 Jul 23 - 06:01 AM I USED TO WORK IN CHICAGO February 1945, Aloha Jigpoha, compiled & edited by T.H.[Robert D. Thornton], pg 58. Mimeographed. See here: https://archive.org/details/1945alohajigpoha/page/57/mode/1up?q=chicago More references to follow. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 14 Jul 23 - 06:16 AM Glenn Ohrlin learned "I Used to Work in Chicago" in the late 1930's or very early 1940's according to this recording: https://ia804702.us.archive.org/9/items/jack_horntip_collection_field_recordings/0918%20Discussion%20Of%20Learning%20%27I%20Used%20To%20Work%20In%20Chicago%27%20In%20The%20Late%201930s%20Perhaps%20Early%201940s.mp3 Field recording, Jack Horntip Collection. Recorded 8 Jan 2006. Glenn Ohrlin (October 26, 1926 - February 9, 2015). |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 14 Jul 23 - 06:51 AM When I was in Chicago, Collected in 1943 from Roscoe Colton, in Malad, Idaho by James Kenneth Larson. The informant learned the jingle (song) in 1932. This is in the "Vulgar Jingles" section of Barnyard Folklore of Southeastern Idaho, found the the combined collection known as The Folklore Trade with Gershon Legman consummated in 1952. The song: https://archive.org/details/1933-1972jameskennethlarson/page/148/mode/2up?q=chicago&view=theater Attribution is found here: https://archive.org/details/1933-1972jameskennethlarson/page/160/mode/2up?q=chicago&view=theater |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 14 Jul 23 - 01:14 PM I did say it was a guess. ;) Here's a text from the mimeographed songbook of Marine Corps Fighter Squadron VMF-323 (not "VMP" as the typo says) from the Korean War. The same squadron flew Corsairs during the battle of Okinawa, precisely at the time when Martin wrote his column. The songbook also includes a text of "Bless 'Em All," also mentioned. I Used to Work in Chicago CHORUS: I used to work in Chicago In a department store I use [sic] to work in Chicago I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some shoes I asked her what kind at the door Pumps she said and pump her I did I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some cake I asked her what kind at the door Hose [sic] she said and hose her I did I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some meat I asked her what kind at the door Pork she said and pork her I did I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some cloth I asked her how much at the door A yard she said but six inches she got I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some hardware I asked her what kind at the door Some screws she said and screw her I did I did but I don't anymore A lady came in and asked for some furs I asked her what kind at the door Fox she said and fox her I did I did but I don't anymore (Many of the puns are presumably improvised.) |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 14 Jul 23 - 01:36 PM Lighter wrote: I did say it was a guess. ;) And I said you were probably right. :-) We just can't use it as proof. I wonder if it's in any way significant that the printings from the military seem to bias toward Air Force versions. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 14 Jul 23 - 01:49 PM Selection bias. Air units were and are far and away the most likely to create songbooks, because between missions they can relax, sing, drink beer, and even go into town. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: and e Date: 14 Jul 23 - 01:53 PM I remember marching down the streets of Miami singing, 1942. This quote is from Bill Grigsby's Grigs!: A Beauuutiful Life autobiography. After his induction to the Army Air Corp and waiting for training in cryptography. See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Grigs_A_Beauuutiful_Life/sGyCDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22We+used+to+work+in+Chicago%22&pg=PT36&printsec=frontcover |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Lighter Date: 14 Jul 23 - 02:09 PM In my haste, I inadvertently "found" a text of "Bless 'Em All" in the VMF-323 songbook. But, surprisingly, there is none. That song, of course, was a hit everywhere, with numberless parodies. |
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Subject: RE: Origins: Chicago/I Used to Work in Chicago (bawdy) From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 14 Jul 23 - 02:53 PM Lighter wrote: Selection bias. Air units were and are far and away the most likely to create songbooks, because between missions they can relax, sing, drink beer, and even go into town. Good point. Thanks. And thanks to and e for all the versions! |
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