my dad, a Californian, taught this to me in the early 60's and he had learned it from him mother, who was from an immigrant Sicilian family that landed in Los Angeles around 1912. I don't know when she learned it, but she never left the west coast so it was here in Ca by the early 40's at least.

There was a little Dutchman, his name was Johnny Rebeck,
He made the finest sausages, sauerkraut and speck.
This little Dutchman invented a machine,
to grind up all the sausages, and it was run by steam.

(Chorus) Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, oh Johnny Rebeck,
How could ya be so mean?
I told ya you'd be sorry for inventing that machine.
Now all the neighbours' cats and dogs will never more be seen,
they've all been ground to sausages in Johnny Rebeck's machine.

One day a fat boy walked in the grocery store,
he bought a pound of sausages and laid them on the floor,
now this little fat boy whistled up a tune,
and all the little sausages went dancing round the room.

(Chorus)

Now one day the darned thing, it wouldn't work at all,
so Johnny Rebeck climbed inside to see what made it stall,
His wife was having nightmares, walking in her sleep,
She gave the crank a heck of a yank and Johnny Rebeck was meat.

(Chorus)

   I never heard this song anywhere outside my family circle until a few years ago when a friend heard me singing it with my daughter and offered up the above first verse to begin the song with; He learned it in Vermont in the 50's. I was just tickled to learn that someone other than my family knew this song.

The version of music I learned with it was jaunty and not at all like the Gambolier tune, our version is closer to the Boy Scout Songbook version. Our friend from Vermont knew the same tune we know.