Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'

Subject: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,sheepyone
Date: 05 Oct 11 - 05:17 PM

Hi,

I"m trying to remember the words to a song or poem my dad used to recite. Part of it was "the potatoes are crying their eyes out, the vinegar's mother is dead." It was full of little puns about stuff in the root cellar. Obscure, I'm sure, but it was cute and it's driving me nuts that I didn't pay better attention before he was gone. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: giles earle
Date: 05 Oct 11 - 05:56 PM

This is all I could find. Any help?

There were tears in the potatoes' eyes,
The cabbage hung its head,
There was sorrow in the cellar,
Because the vinegar's mother was dead.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Oct 11 - 09:06 PM

OMG, that's it!!!   THANK YOU SO MUCH!   What is this from??

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 Oct 11 - 10:29 PM

are you sure that wasn't 'mother of vinegar'? Mother of vinegar is something like mother of pearl.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 04:30 PM

From The Harvard Lampoon, Volume 42, No. 1, October 14, 1901, page 206:

The potato's eyes were full of tears;
The cabbage hung his head.
Alas! there was grief in the kitchen that night;
The vinegar's mother was dead.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 04:39 PM

Mother of vinegar at Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,sheepyone
Date: 06 Oct 11 - 09:50 PM

Thanks, Jim, that source makes sense. Dad was an avid reader and the time frame was right for him to have seen it. He had a good memory for amusing bits of doggerel. You made my day :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Something Similar!
Date: 20 Feb 12 - 11:40 PM

This is a little rhyme I grew up with. In a small Oregon town! My Grandpa used to say it, don't know where it came from. He was a Longshoreman. The version he sang/said is almost identical . . . I love to see other people with the same good memories as me.

The potatoes' eyes were full of tears,
The cabbages hung their heads.
There was tragedy in the cellar that night.
The vinegar's mother was dead.

He had a couple more, as well. Some not so nice, but they make me smile and miss him!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 21 Feb 12 - 03:36 AM

I would surmise that the "Vinegar's mother" is something like a kombucha "mother".
Though I can't recall my homemade vinegar ever developing a mother, it is certainly possible!

Cute little ditty: I'll have to learn it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Iona
Date: 21 Feb 12 - 03:37 AM

*slaps forehead*
I missed it, Jim Dixon beat me. ;)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 12 - 09:29 AM

The "best" part about the "mother" is its resembalance to primordial ooze... LOL   

When we pressed cider, we usually got more than we could use up quickly... so some went into the freezer, some went into carboys to make hard cider (just like making homemade wine)and the rest went into crocks or buckets to make vinegar. They were only covered with cheesecloth or old towels so that the air would keep the process aerobic, so we usually got a large mass of mother at the bottom of the crock.

Fermentation is a messy business no matter what you are using, but if done with care the end results are pretty darn tasty.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Sep 15 - 08:32 PM

The potatoes were crying their eyes out
The cabbages hung their heads
There was grief in the cellar that morning
The vinegars mother was dead

(The mother actually produces the vinegar hence the name mother)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 14 Jan 16 - 05:12 PM

GUEST,Something Similar!

My grandmother was from Oregon too. Her version was almost the same

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Rebecca Woods
Date: 05 Jan 17 - 10:25 AM

There was sorrow in the cellar.
The cabbage hung its head.
The potatoes' eyes were filled with tears
For the vinegar's muther was dead.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Mar 20 - 11:21 AM

tears came to the eyes of the potato. the cabbage hung its head. when the sad news reached the ears of the corn.the vinegar's mother was dead.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Mar 20 - 09:50 PM

From Home Economics Programs by Mrs. Lulu Williams Gillum (Kansas City: The Gillum book company, 1931), page 142:

[I have pieced this together from several "snippets." I probably didn't get the whole thing:]

"She added a zest to the simplest affair—
I just can't believe she's dead!"

So full of the spice of life;
(Even tho' a wee bit tart)
I just can't bear," the red beet wailed
"To think that we must part!"

"I've had my day in my own way
Down in garden lane. "
The cucumber wiped away a tear
"I'll never get 'pickled' again!"

There were tears in the potatoes' eyes,
And the cabbage hung its head;
And hearts were sad in the cellar that night
For the vinegar's "Mother" was dead!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: cnd
Date: 21 Mar 20 - 12:32 AM

Jim's looks to be the most complete version I've seen. Once this whole virus is over with, anyone living near Virginia Tech, U. Georgia, Penn State, or Berry College (GA) can see if he's missing anything by checking at the library

The closing stanza appeared in dozens of college exchanges around the turn of the century. I know it's more than most people will care to read, but I think it's kind of neat to watch how the song changed over time. A few variations I haven't seen on here yet, that I've organized in order of year of appearance:

Yackety Yack, 1901, p. 333

The water dripped from the potato's eye,
The cabbage hung his head;
There was a sad old time in the kitchen that night
For the vinegar's mother was dead

The Picket, Feb. 1902, p. 11

The potatoes' eyes were full of tears,
The cabbage bowed its head,
There was grief in the kitchen that day
For the vinegar's mother was dead. -- Ex.

Bohemian, 1908, p. 148

The potato's eyes were full of tears,
The cabbage hid her head;
There was grief in the kitchen on that day,
For the vinegar's mother was dead.

Bethanian, 1916, p. 151

The water dripped from the potatoe's eye,
The cabbage hung down its head;
There was a sad old time in the kitchen that night
For the vinegar's mother was dead!

Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Feb. 1922, p. 36

Cellar Ancestry

The potatoes eyes were full of tears,
And the cabbage hung its head,
For there was grief in the cellar that nite,
For the vinegar's mother was dead.

Tampa Bay Times, July 23rd, 1922, p. 4

Dim with tears
Were the old potatoe's eyes.
And grief made
The cabbage bow its head.
From parsnips and turnips came subbing sighs,
The vinegar's mother was dead.

The Chowanka, 1923, p. 82

The water dripped
From the dishes' eyes;
The cabbage hung his head;
There was a sad old time
In the kitchen that night
For the vinegar's mother was dead.

The Hutchinson News, Feb. 18th, 1924, p. 7

The potatoes eyes were red;
The cabbage hung its head;
There was grief in the cellar;
The vinegar's mother was dead.

The Elms, 1925, p. 116

A TRAGEDY

There were tears in the eyes of the potato,
And the cabbage hung its head,
There was a terrible grief in the kitchen
For the vinegar's mother was dead.

Marysville Journal-Tribune, Oct. 4 1928, p. 4

The potatoe's eyes were filled with tears,
The cabbage bowed its head.
The artichoke said never a word;
For the vinegar's mother was dead.

Retro, 1929, p. 99

There were tears in the eyes of the potatoes.
The cabbage hung its head
because the ears of corn had heard
that the vinegar's mother was dead.
[line breaks added by me for readability]

Casa Grande Dispatch, Jul 25 1929, p. 1

The potato's eyes were watering,
The cabbage hung its head,
For everyone in the cellar knew,
That the vinegar's mother was dead.

So we wonder if the beets, even though pickled, brought cauliflower.

The longest one aside from Jim's (and two odd ones I'll add in a separate post/s) I found is this:

The Wheaton Journal, Jan 6 1938, p. 4

The pumpkins were crying
And the old beets face was red
The turnip tops were dying
The onions' tears were shed
The potatoes eyes were full of tears
The cabbage hung its head
There was grief in the cellar that night
The vinegar's mother was dead.

You can see as time progresses, some vegetables come and go, the crying is attributed to other kitchen objects, and there's a slight change in wordage. The Harvard Lampoon of October 1901 Jim cited in 2011 was the earliest reference I could find, and even it borrowed it from someone else (it being in the "clippings" section").

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: cnd
Date: 21 Mar 20 - 12:47 AM

This version of the poem started life as two different poems, both of unknown origins, but was merged into one:

From The Waldo Advocate, Feb 20, 1922, p. 4

Twas a nice day in October
Last September, in July.
The moon lay thick upon the ground,
The mud shone in the sky.
The flowers were shining brightly,
The buds were in full bloom,
Then I went into a basement
To sleep in an upstairs room
The time was Tuesday morning,
On Wednesday, just at night,
I saw a thousand miles away,
A house, just out of sight!
The wall projected inwards,
The front was round in back.
I stood alone with others.
And the fence was whitewashed black.
Little tears stodd in the potatoes' eyes,
As the cabbage hung its head.
There was sorrow upstairs in the cellar that night,
For the Vinegar's mother was dead.

--Author Unknown

The second one I came across is less of a poem and more of a story than a poem, but I'll include it here for its relevance and entertainment.

From The Billings Times, Jan 10, 1929, p. 3

Pop Corn and Mothers Oats met in the grocery store years ago and after a brief courtship were united in holy Macaroni. To this family was born several children of the grocery family. Of course they had their troubles as most large families do. Miss Cabbage had a headache; Spud quarreled with Red Onion because he hurt his eyes. The Pork got in with the Beans and they joined the Navy at Lima. Poor Prune showed his Raisin and Dill was in a Pickle. Uncle tobacco took a Pick and rode a Camel up the Old Hill Side to a Days Work and made a Lucky Strike which was the Union Standard. Micky got a Cotton Ball out of Chesterfield. George Washington was a Union Leader and hung a Horse Shoe on his Log Cabin. Prince Albert was a Country Gentleman and played the Drum which was the Climax. Browns Mule and Peachy Plug made a good team[.] Gum Drops in and steals a Hershey Kiss which made Lemon Drop Red Hot. The Bottle Lost its Cap. Jelly got in a traffic Jam and missed a Date with a Peach. Miss Carrot said Lettuce try to do better when Sugar lost his cane. But at last grief was upon the family and all was quiet for the vinegar Mother was dead.