Has anyone heard a folk song called The Buttonmakers' Strike? My grandmother used to sing it all the time, but I can't find a single reference to it on the internet. She sang it to the tune of St. James Infirmary.
Here are the lyrics she sang, missing a verse or two that I can't recall:
Oh the Button Makers strike is now over, And I sit and sew buttons again. Soon the whole world will know, the tale my woe, That I'm bearing a child of shame.
Oh it happened at the last union picnic. For the strikers admission was free. In the smoke of the battle, the issues to settle, I lost my simplicity.
I went just a youthful spirit, My god what a fool I was! With Yenkele Hoiker, a radical worker In the Button union cause.
He spoke of the suffering masses, And he said that wealth was a sin. He bought me peanuts, a bag, and a little red flag, And he kissed me again and again.
And that was the last time I saw him. He sends me now three for a dime Some bum postal card that says "best regards, Am having an organizing time."
So I sit here and I sew on buttons And tell me now but ain't life tough! Cause no matter how you sew And you sew and you sew… How easy, oy vey, they come off.