Origins: Dunderbeck

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Aug 06 - 01:26 PM

Someday we'll get to the bottom of the barrel with this poignant old ditty,

It certainly was also a favorite in our household when I was supposed to be growing up. Our source was probably the family copy of READ 'EM & WEEP which has been cited above.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,OMAR
Date: 24 Oct 06 - 03:21 PM

Subject: Lyr Add: DUNDERBECK
From: Vincent van - GO!
Date: 29 Nov 06 - 11:50 AM

I am just about to finally get around to releasing an album with this song on it, and I'm having a delightful time trying to figure out if the darned thing is public domain or if there is in fact, an estate it belongs to.

Strange situation:
The tune is mine / the arrangement is mine - and the lyrics have been somewhat modified to fit my style and sensibilities....
(trad. arr. I'd suppose...)
but I have no intention or inclination of claiming it as an orig.

Now here's what's real strange: Although a boyscout back in the 60's (in Ontario's northland) I never ever heard a version of this song.
In fact, knew nothing of its existence until I found a copy of the lyrics in a library book back in the fall of '93.
Loved the lyric, took it, modified it somewhat, wrote my own tune and arranged it, and there it is.
To this day, I STILL haven't actually ever heard anyone else sing this song...in any of its prolific incarnations.
The reason I finally decided to put it on an album? (It's got a pretty good tune, actually.)

My modified lyric:

There was a man from Pleasantville
his name was Dunderbeck
he sold a lot of sausages
and sauerkraut, by heck
he made the greatest sausages that you had ever seen
until the day he did invent
a sausage-meat machine
(ch)
Oh Dunderbeck, Oh Dunderbeck
how could you be so mean?
To ever have invented
such a terrible machine...
Now alley cats and long-tailed rats
will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage-meat
in Dunderbeck's machine.

One day a little shy boy
came walkin' in his store
and he bought a pound of sausages, yeah
and he laid them on the floor
Then he began to whistle
he whistled up a tune...
Those sausages meowed and barked
-chased each other 'round the room...
(ch)
One day the thing got busted
The darned thing wouldn't work
And Dunderbeck, he crawled inside
to see what made it jerk.
His wife came walking in just then -
'cause she walked in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank
-and Dunderbeck was bleep!
(ch)

(a 4th verse that I left out...)

So if you have a cat or dog
you keep them under lock
'cause if you don't, I'm warning you
you're in for a big shock!
'cause if you buy some sausages
from Dunderbeck, right now!
You'll hear those little sausages
meow, and bow-wow-wow!


.........I always have been kinda curious to hear anyone else's tune for this - I'm sure the tune has trans-migrated and modified itself to death over the decades - given the age of the song.
My tune is sort of a 20's/30's ragtime styling - a bit like the carnival-calliope things we used to hear on old carousels - the kind with hand-carved horses. That's what seemed to fit, anyhow.

Joe Ryan's great-grandfather's version seems to be the one that fits the version I found the closest - and that has to go back to at least the 1880's or so.........perhaps this is close to what the original actually was.

I've always had a lot of fun finding lyrics and refitting them to roll off the tongue in a comfortable way.
'tho purists frown, I like to think of it in the grand old blues lyrics tradition - blues artists for divers' decades have been a-modifyin' and switchin' stuff to suit their own particular styles and figures of speech.

Incidentally - I remember back about 6 years ago wandering into a west coast kids' music website, and happening upon a forum where folks came looking for versions of old songs they'd heard as kids.
It was the most amazing thing - when I realized that the majority of this material had probably never been recorded.
I was incredibly moved - and somewhat sobered by how haunted these folks were - by the simple beauty of what they were trying to remember, and the way that the stuff brought back memories of their own childhoods (now long-gone) and certain loved ones they connected the tunes to.
It struck me right there - that this was a time, an era - long before the structured and commercialized commodification of a simple art, that belonged to the people, that existed very much in an oral tradition, and was handed down not to earn million$ in royalties and all-star status - but out of love that passed between generations.

Nice to know that in our Mc-Wally World - this can still happen.

cheers all -

jp

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Nov 06 - 04:03 PM

The Harrigan papers, scripts, songs, etc. are archived at the New York Public Library. "Dunderbeck" is attributed to Harrigan and Hart and Braham, but not with certainty; the papers should be examined for the song. I doubt that any copyright still is valid, but they should be able to tell you at the NY Library.

As posted above, music was printed in Carmina princetonia, 1894, music essentially "Son of a Gambolier." The text had appeared in a Songster in 1876. Copyright Martin R. Dennis, 1894, in the Carmina sheetmusic, but he was a publisher of Carmina princetonia and other songbooks and the copyright would cover just his arrangement and printing.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Dec 06 - 03:25 PM

E. J. Kahn, 1955, "The Merry Partners," (The Age and Stage of Harrigan and Hart), mentions their play, "The Major" (p. 69).

In this production, "he introduced an immigrant couple from Ireland who had felt impelled to make the long trip across the Atlantic simply because their son, who had previously come to America, was on the verge of marrying a Dutch [German] sausage-maker."
This is the only comment on the content of this production (which was revived a couple of times). Production date not given.

The book is a meandering flow of unorganized anecdotal excreta, absolutely useless to one interested in the productions and songs of the Harrigan-Hart group. There is no complete list of their productions, little or no mention of the content of the productions, no index.
Many pages are devoted to gangs and immigrant groups of New York, stealing of a merchant prince's body, Hart's paresis (third stage syphilis), etc.; in other words background setting and color.

"The Major" is mentioned again near the end of the book (p. 200) in connection with the opening of Harrigan and Hart's (second) Theatre Comique in 1881.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,Leslie
Date: 01 Jan 07 - 02:37 PM

My grandmother sang this song when I was a child - the only part I recall is
"oh, Mr. Dunderback how could you be so mean?
I'm sorry you invented such a wonderful machine.
The pussy cats, and long tailed rats, will nevermore be seen.
They grind them up for sausage meat - in Dunderback's machine!"

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,Ira
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 11:33 PM

I believe I heard Oscar Brand at the 1970 (?) Philadelphia Folk Festival (?) sing "To ever have invented the Sausage meat machine; The dogs, the rats, the pussycats, will never more be seen, for ..."

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: voyager
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 07:57 AM

Learned this song in an ORAL TRADITION way....
Sung by a group of Boy Scouts while riding bicycles on the C&O canal.

It was the ONLY TIME (in 10 years) we ever heard our BOY SCOUTS voluntarily sing a Folk Song.

voyager

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 10:58 AM

Louisa was the murdered wife of "Sausage King" Adolph Luetgert, a German meat packer who came to the city in the 1870's....

After finding that his German sausages were well-liked in Chicago, Adolph Luetgert built a sausage plant at the southwest corner of Hermitage and Diversey Parkway in 1894. He was so taken with his own success that he also built a three-story frame house next door to the factory, which he shared with his wife Louisa.

Louisa Bicknese was an attractive young woman who was ten years younger than her husband. She was a former servant from the Fox River Valley who met her new husband by chance. He was immediately taken with her, entranced by her diminutive stature and tiny frame. She was less than five feet tall and looked almost child-like next to her burly husband. As a wedding gift, he gave her a unique, heavy gold ring. Inside of it, he had gotten her new initials inscribed, reading "L.L.". Little did he know at the time that this ring would prove to be his undoing.         

According to friends and neighbors, Luetgert's fascination with his beautiful, young wife did not last long. The couple was frequently heard to argue and their disagreements became so heated that Luetgert eventually moved his bedroom from the house to a small chamber inside of the factory. Luetgert soon became involved with a girl named Mary Simerling, Louisa's nice and a household servant. This new scandal also got the attention of the people in the neighborhood, who were already gossiping about the couple's marital woes.

Then, on May 1, 1897, Louisa disappeared. When questioned by his sons, Luetgert told them that their mother had gone out the previous evening to visit her sister. After several days though, she did not come back. Finally, Diedrich Bicknese, Louisa's brother, went to the police. The investigation fell on Captain Herman Schuettler, who author Richard Lindberg describes as "an honest but occasionally brutal detective".

The detective and his men began to immediately search for Louisa. They questioned neighbors and relatives and soon learned of the couple's violent arguments. They also talked to Wilhelm Fulpeck, an employee of the sausage factory, who recalled seeing Louisa enter the factory around 10:30 in the evening on May 1. Frank Bialk, a night watchman at the plant, confirmed his story. He also added that he saw both Luetgert and Louisa at the plant together. Apparently, Luetgert sent him out on an errand that evening and gave him the rest of the night off.

Schuettler also made another disturbing and suspicious discovery. Just a short time before Louisa's disappearance, the factory had been closed for ten weeks for reorganization. However, the day before Louisa vanished, Luetgert ordered 378 pounds of crude potash and fifty pounds of arsenic. The circumstantial evidence was starting to add up and Schuettler began to theorize about the crime. He became convinced that Luetgert had killed his wife, boiled her in acid and then disposed of her in a factory furnace. With that in mind, he and his men started another search of the sausage plant. They narrowed the search to the basement and to a twelve-foot-long, five-foot-deep vat that was located next to the furnaces that smoked the meat. The officers drained the greasy paste from the vat and began poking through the residue with sticks. Here, officer Walter Dean found a small piece of a skull fragment and two gold rings. One of them was engraved with the initials "L.L.".

On May 7, Adolph Luetgert, proclaiming his innocence, was arrested for the murder of his wife. No body was ever found and there were no witnesses to the crime, but police officers and prosecutors believed the evidence was overwhelming. Luetgert was indicted for the crime a month later and details of the murder shocked the city, especially those on the northwest side. Even though Luetgert was charged with burning his wife's body, local rumor had it that she had been ground into sausage instead. Needless to say, sausage sales declined substantially in 1897.

There were continual rumors about the content of sausages prior to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act -- and afterwards, of course.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 01:06 PM

Rapaire, thanks for posting the story. There are many articles, and at least one book, "Alchemy of Bones," that look at Louisa's disappearance and the trial of Luetgert.
I am not sure that the discovery of the rings and bone in the vat are part of the evidence brought forth in the trial, or added myth, but is does add to the story.
The poem was written long before the disappearance, so it is not a result of the Luetgert case.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 08:40 PM

When I was in the Army I had a buddy from Lowell, MA, a French-Canadian himself, who swore the song was "Johnny Babec."

Babec, Babeque or Babecque does indeed sound more like French. Verbeck sounds German. And as for Dunderbeck, which seems to be the earlier spelling, neither of us had ever heard it that way, or, at that time, ever seen it in print ourselves at all.

To this day I hear and sing it as "Johnny Babec."

Oh, and its tune isn't "Son of a Gambolier," either, though there are some superficial points of resemblance. Altogether sprightlier.

This ol' potboiler really has gotten around. I always figured it had to have been based on something out of Cincinnati,but then Cincinnati's an old joke. W.C. Fields would certainly insist it happened in Philadelphia, another good old German town.

Bob

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,Well here's another version circa 1900
Date: 20 Feb 07 - 02:03 PM

This was sung to us by our grandfather 45 years ago...I'd love someone who knows THIS version to fill in the rest...Thank you. Kathy

There once was a Dutchman, his name was Doodleybeck,
He was fond of sausages and sauerkraut and spec
He had the greatest butcher shop, the finest ever seen,
???? Two lines missing

Chorus:
Oh, Mr. Doodleybeck, oh, how could you be so mean
to invent such a terrible machine
All the cats and dogs and rats, no more can they be seen
They're all ground up into sausage meat in Doodleybeck's machine

One day the machine got busted and Doodleybeck crawled in,
just, to see, what the matter been,
and Mrs. Doodleybeck, while walking in her sleep,
she gave the crank a heck of a yank and Doodleybeck was meat!

Chorus:
Oh, Mr. Doodleybeck, oh how could you be so mean,
to invent such a good for nothing machine
All the cats and dogs and rats no more can they be seen,
They're all ground up into sausage meat in Doodleybeck's machine

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,old camper
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 09:57 AM

I learned this song in day camp in Michigan in the mid - 60's. I used to know it all, but now I only remember the chorus and the gist of the story told in the verses:

Oh, Mr. Johnny LeBec, how could you be so mean?
We told you you'd be sorry for inventing that machine.
Now all the neighbor's cats and dogs will never more be seen.
He'll grind them up into sausages in Johnny LeBec's machine.

The story ran something like this:

Johnny LeBec created such a wonderful sausage-making machine, and needed meat for it. He killed his wife and ground her up, and then used the neighborhood pets, and then started using neighborhood children, when he could get them. Finally, the locals caught on to him and pushed him in his own machine. I, too, remember a verse saying the neighborhood cats and dogs were happy again.

Now that I think of it, it was a strange song to teach 7 and 8 - year olds!

I've been trying to find the song to teach it to my sons. Thanks for all the leads!

I also found reference to the story and song in the book, More Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark, by Alvin Schwartz, copyright 1984, ISBN 0-06-440177-4, if anyone is interested.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,Istra
Date: 03 Apr 07 - 07:43 PM

We used to tease my grandmother since she loved to play the old computer game "Lemmings" and one of the levels had a cute rendition of that song. We changed the words to

Oh Dunderback, Oh Dunderback
How could you be so mean?
I'm sorry you invented
that terrible machine
Now all those Lemmings
will never more be seen
'cause they've all been turned to sausage meat
by Dunderback's machine

and she'd say, "My poor Lemmings! No, it was pussy cats and mousie rats!"

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,Eric
Date: 24 Apr 07 - 10:31 PM

Mrs. Haag, my grade school janitor, used to sing this version to our class in the halls during recess. Listening to her stories was one of my best memories from childhood.
Once there was a little boy his name was Dunderback
And all he ever lived upon was meat, sauerkraut, and spec
One day he invented a machine to grind his sausage up by steam
One day the machine it wouldn't go, so Dunderback climbed in to see what he know
Along came Mrs. Dunderback a walking in her sleep
She gave it a crank, one great big yank, and Dunderback was meet.

Subject: Lyr Add: DUNDERBECK
From: GUEST,azansvan
Date: 27 May 07 - 12:38 AM

Just read over two years of posts on this song and no one has quite hit the version I knew so I'll throw this into the mix. I learned this from my father--not at home, but in our Boy Scout troop, or actually, our Cub Scout Pack, when he was a Pack leader. This was in the late 1950s, in a town on Long Island, just outside New York City.

My father learned it in his Boy Scout troop when he was growing up in the Ridgewood section of Brooklyn/Queens in the 1920s/30s. He and most of his troop mates were of German origin so whether they were ridiculing their elders or celebrating their heritage is for more analytical minds than mine to decide.

There was a big fat German, his name was Dunderbeck,
And he was very fond of sauerkraut and speck.
He opened up a butcher shop, the worst you've ever seen,
And he invented and patented the sausage meat machine.

[chorus]
Oh, Dunderbeck, oh, Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean!
Why'd you invent the sausage meat machine?
The rats and dogs and pussy cats will never more be seen
'Cause they'll all be ground to sausage meat in the sausage meat machine.

One day a little boy came walking in the store
To buy a pound of sausage meat and eggs a half a score.
And while he was a waiting he whistled up a tune,
And the sausage meat began to hop and dance around the room.

[chorus]

Something was the matter, the machine it didn't work.
So Dunderbeck climbed into it to try and have a look.
His wife was having a nightmare, and walking in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank and Dunderbeck was meat.

[chorus]

A few notes and observations:
I'm not sure of the proper spelling of "speck" (German for bacon) but I know that we always sang it as "schpeck."

Most other versions say that Dunderbeck's shop was the "finest." This one says "worst" which seems more honest, considering.

I like the fact that it's a "little boy" who comes into the store while it's Dunderbeck who is described as "fat."   That it is a little boy who can animate the slaughtered sausage meat with his whistling seems a wonderful tribute to the power of music, even in the hands (or mouth, should I say) of one of the least powerful in society. And the alliterative quality of the line "And while he was a waiting he whistled up a tune" just knocks me out.

I also like that he's buying egg by the "score," (or "half a score" in this case). Who even knows what a score is these days?!! Unless you're parsing the Gettysburg Address it's not something you're likely to be familiar with. It's 20 of course, and half a score is 10. How very decimal of him. And when and by whom was it decided that eggs always had to come by the dozen?

Something that always bothered me tho--the flow of the story make you think that the last verse takes place during the day while the shop is open and Dunderbeck is serving customers. So what is Mrs. Dunderbeck doing sleeping and having a nightmare right then that she should go out sleepwalking in the middle of the day???   

I know, I know--I'm looking for too much logic and meaning in a simple, silly folk song. But this is the kind of thing you think about when you're an 8 or 9 year old kid trying to puzzle out the code, understand the significance of these wacky songs that the grownups are teaching you.

And finally, of course, I know that everyone is most partial and devoted to the version of the song that they learned when they were a kid from their father/grandfather/grandmother/great uncle/etc. And I make no claim of ultimate authority for my version of the song. It clearly wasn't the first version, and may not be the last. But I have my reasons for liking it.

Meanwhile, doesn't seem that anyone has been able to find a copy of "Our Own Boy's Songster," 1876, yet. I work near Library of Congress, will see if I can find the version they have there.

A. H. Haeberle

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 May 07 - 01:03 PM

Those old songsters are hard to find.

Someone interested in old theatre routines might find the song among the Harrigan-Hart papers at the NY Public Library. Might be a tedious search.

Let us know if you find the songster at the Library of Congress. Good luck!

Subject: Lyr Add: DUNDERBECK
From: GUEST,azansvan
Date: 27 May 07 - 11:12 PM

On further reflection, and after consulting with my father (who can't remember what he did this morning but can remember songs he sang 80 years ago) I have a couple of small corrections to make in the version I posted the other day.

In the first verse, the last line "And he invented and patented..." should be "And he took it out and patented...." (This really fits the rhythm of the tune much better.)

And in the chorus, the last line " 'Cause they'll all be..." should be "For they'll all be...."

These changes don't add any sense or meaning, but they are, in fact, the words we sang.

For the record then, my corrected version of Dunderbeck and the Sausage Meat Machine.

There was a big fat German, his name was Dunderbeck,
And he was very fond of sauerkraut and speck.
He opened up a butcher shop, the worst you've ever seen,
And he took it out and patented the sausage meat machine.

[chorus]
Oh, Dunderbeck, oh, Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean!
Why'd you invent the sausage meat machine?
The rats and dogs and pussy cats will never more be seen
For they'll all be ground to sausage meat in the sausage meat machine.

One day a little boy came walking in the store
To buy a pound of sausage meat and eggs a half a score.
And while he was a waiting he whistled up a tune,
And the sausage meat began to hop and dance around the room.

[chorus]

Something was the matter, the machine it didn't work.
So Dunderbeck climbed into it to try and have a look.
His wife was having a nightmare, and walking in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank and Dunderbeck was meat.

[chorus]

AHH

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,azansvan
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 04:44 PM

I requested "Our Own Boys Songster" from LC but it seems to have been misplaced. They are conducting a search of the stacks and other likely hiding places but haven't heard from them yet. Will let you know if it shows up.

AHH

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 04:56 PM

Hmmmm... Now who has it?

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 05 Jul 07 - 02:29 PM

This is the way I learned it from Dad and Grandpa:

Chorus
Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck
How could you be so mean?
To ever have invented the sausage-meat machine.
Now all the neighbors cats and dogs
Will never more be seen
Cause they've been ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

One day a little fat boy
Came walking to the store.
He bought a pound of sausages
And placed 'em on the floor.
Then he began to whistle,
He whistled up a tune,
And all the little sausages went
Dancing raound the room.

Chorus

Now if you have some cats and dogs
You better keep them locked.
Cause if you don't, I'm warning you,
You're in for one big shock!
If you go buy some sausages from Dunderbeck right now
You'll hear the little sausages meow and bow-wow-wow

Chorus

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,vzla
Date: 28 Sep 07 - 01:53 PM

Right, I remember my mom singing this to me when I was younger. She was born in Alabama and learned from riding on the school buses when they would go on trips. It went something like this.

OOHHHH dunderback, oh dunderback, how could you be so mean,
to ever have invented a sausage meat machine,
now all neighbors cats and dogs will never more be seen,
'cuz they'll be ground to sausage meat in dunderback's machine.

One day a little fat boy, came walking through the door,
he bought a ring of sausages and put them on the floor,
And then he began to whistle, he whistled up a tune,
then all the little sausages were dancing around the room.

OOHHHH dunderback, oh dunderback, how could you be so mean,
to ever have invented a sausage meat maching,
now all neighbors cats and dogs will never more be seen,
'cuz they'll be ground to sausage meat in dunderback's machine.

One day the thing got busted, the darn thing wouldn't work,
so dunderback climbed inside to see what made a twerk,
his wife she had a nightmare, she walked in her sleep,
she gave the thing a wickedy-whack and dunderback meat.

OOHHHH dunderback, oh dunderback, how could you be so mean,
to ever have invented a sausage meat maching,
now all neighbors cats and dogs will never more be seen,
'cuz they'll be ground to sausage meat in dunderback's machine.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,sarafina
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 11:19 PM

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.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 05:03 AM

My brothers and sister were sung this song by mother in the 40s and 50s.
She's 89 now. Our family is Dutch, but our ancestors emigrated here from Germany. We know it as Johnny Verbeck. Friends in Milwaukee know the song too, but with a German name, I think Dunderbeck.

One Google search yielded a Verbeck Machine Company in California.
Maybe it isn't just fiction?


Greybeard - West Michigan.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 05:04 PM

No doubt "Our Own Boys Songster" 1876 was shreaded by the library, an oddly appropriate fate for a book containing this song.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 07:18 PM

Will it ever be found?
No, never be found,
Its fate is still unlearned,
It is lost forever in stacks of ephemera,
etc. etc.



Harrigan and Hart? or our old friend anon.? Only the ghosts of dead librarians of the Library of Congress would know.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: Joe_F
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 08:38 PM

Live & learn. (Die & forget it all.) I always supposed "The Pioneers" went to the tune of "O Tannenbaum".

*My* favorite stanza of it is

Great joy they reap from tupping sheep
In sundry bogs and ditches,
Nor care a damn if it's a ram,
Those hardy sons of bitches!

There is, IMO, a lamentable scarcity of polymorphous perversity in folk song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,K-La
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 06:15 PM

Hey all,

   I heard it as 'Gunderbeck' as well, we used to sing it in Elementary School in music class. This is how the one I know goes:

There was a fat old Dutchman,
And his name was Gunderbeck
He used to like his sausages
With sauerkraut and speck
He opened up a butchershop the finest ever seen
And in it he did put, a Gunderbeck machine!

OH Gunderbeck oh Gunderbeck,
How could you be so mean?
For ever have invented such a horrible machine.
Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen
They're all ground up for sausage meat in Gunderbeck's machine.

One day there was a fellow,
Came walking in the shop.
He ordered up some sausages and half a case of pop.
While he was waiting, he whistled up a tune
And all the little sausages went dancing around the room.

OH Gunderbeck oh Gunderbeck,
How could you be so mean?
For ever have invented such a horrible machine.
Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen
They're all ground up for sausage meat in Gunderbeck's machine.

One day he had some trouble,
The machine it would not go.
He climbed inside to see what was wrong,
He had the right to know.
Hif wife she had a nightmare and went walking in her sleep,
She gave the crank an awful yank and Gunderbeck was meat.

OH Gunderbeck oh Gunderbeck,
How could you be so mean?
For ever have invented such a horrible machine.
Now all the neighbours cats and dogs will never more be seen
They're all ground up for sausage meat in Gunderbeck's machine.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Dec 07 - 09:08 PM

So when Dunderback got to St. Peter's Gate, what did he say?
















"Did we ever meat?"

Cheerily,
Charley Ignoble

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,Chris in Saskatchewan
Date: 21 Feb 08 - 12:42 AM

Just to complicate things further, the version I learned had "Gunderback" in the starring role! The only lines I remember are the chorus and the second verse:

Oh Gunderback, oh Gunderback how could you be so mean?
To ever have invented such a horrible machine
For pussy cats and long-tailed rats will never more be seen
They're all ground up for sausages in Gunderback's machine

One day some little boys
Came walking in the shop
They ordered up some sausages and half a case of pop
And while they were a-waiting, they whistled up a tune
And all the little sausages went dancing round the room!

***

I get a kick out of this song because we have both pussy cats and long-tailed rats as pets in our house! I wish I could remember the rest of the lyrics. My mother-in-law was a substitute teacher and she (and I) remember this as one of the songs in the songbooks we had in second grade. And we both remember it as "Gunderback"!

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,Jeremy Boggs
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 01:27 PM

my grandad played the song but he past away but my aunt has the lyrics and ill see if i can get the whole song

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Feb 08 - 02:21 PM

Chris and Jeremy, these versions are all interesting, in that they show how a popular song or poem can get changed in different hands or when it is passed down verbally.
The more the better!

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Mar 08 - 06:44 AM

"Carmina princetonia: the Princeton song book," 9th edition*, can now be viewed online at Google Book Search. Here's a link to the page that contains DUNDERBECK.

*1900 according to the title page; 1898 according to the copyright page.

This book has gone through many editions and printings. According to WorldCat, the 1940 edition is designated "25th issue."

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: GUEST,moody
Date: 14 May 08 - 12:15 PM

I learned it as a boy in WIsconsin in the 50's and it was "Johnny McBeck"and what got ground up were "all the neighbor's cats and dogs"

Subject: Lyr Add: DUNDERBECK
From: GUEST,justine
Date: 17 Jul 08 - 12:50 AM

I have loved looking at all the slightly different versions of this very favorite song of mine.
I posted the version I learned because the second verse is a little different than the others, with the man coming into the store, and the head-cheese... I grew up in Montana.

There was a good old Dutchman, his name was Dunderbeck,
He was very fond of sauerkraut and poodle-dogs, I'd 'pect
He wanted to make sausage, and make it very fine,
So he got himself a patent on a sausager machine,

Oh Say, Mr. Dunderbeck, How could you be so mean?
To grind up all those cats and dogs in your sausager machine,
The long-tail rats and pussycats will never more be seen,
For they're all ground up in sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

One day there cam a runnin' into the little store,
A man to see about some head-cheese, a standin' on the floor,
And as he was a waitin' before his very eyes,
The sausage head got up and began to dance around the room.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,MrMojo
Date: 12 Dec 08 - 09:37 PM

I love these priceless diddys. I heard this one from an old fellow that I was chatting with in the grocery store beer section. I'm pretty sure he was in the early stages of sillyness, because his wife escorted him away when she saw him talking and singing to a perfect stranger. All that I could remember was "rats and kitty cats", so I began to Google and research. Also, I drive a school bus, and sometimes encourage silly behavior from my little ones - this seemed to fit the bill... It seems the chorus is perfectly acceptable as;

"Alley Cats and Long Tailed Rats"
"Long Tailed Rats and Pussy Cats"
"Rats and Dogs and Cats"
"Rats and Dogs and Kitty Cats"

The first go at it was very successful, the kids loved it and begged for more.
I modified it some to make it easier to understand and sing by modern American children and this is what I came up with;
_____________________________

There was a strange old butcher, whose name was Dunderbeck
His specialty was sausage meat, and saurkraut, and speck.
Then Dunderbeck invented, a terrible machine,
That ground things into sausage meat, and it was run by steam.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented that terrible machine?
Now all the Rats and Dogs and Cats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

He had the finest butcher shop,the finest ever seen!
And that's where he invented, that terrible machine.
But people began to think, that something wasn't right,
When the Rats and Dogs and Kitty Cats went missing in the night.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented that terrible machine?
Now all the Rats and Dogs and Cats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

One day a little fat boy, walked into the store
He brought a pound of sausages, and threw them on the floor.
The boy began to whistle, and he whistled up a tune.
And all the sausages stood up and danced around the room.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented that terrible machine?
Now all the Rats and Dogs and Cats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

One night the machine got busted, the darned thing wouldn't go.
So Dunderbeck, he climbed inside to see what made it so.
His wife, she had a nightmare and walking in her sleep
She gave the crank an awful yank and Dunderbeck was meat.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented that terrible machine?
Now all the Rats and Dogs and Cats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderbeck's machine.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderbeck)
From: GUEST,emily
Date: 02 May 09 - 11:50 AM

the words are almost exactly like Mister Johnny Rebeck which I sang at church camp in Montana 1959. My husband heard it before 1948 on a record in South Dakota.

Subject: Comprehensive Lyrics
From: GUEST,Saiph
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 11:51 PM

I haven't heard this song in years, I plowed through most of the discussion pages about the song and sorted out what I feel is a comprehensive list of all the verses. I tweaked some words here and there to suit the rhyme, meter, cadence, and memories I have of the song. Some of the obscure verses needed a complete rewrite, but the theme is still unchanged. There was one I just couldn't figure the meaning of, and consequently omitted. I can't wait to use this at camp next week.
I hope you all approve.

There was a strange old butcher, whose name was Dunderbeck
His specialty was sausage meat, and saurkraut, and speck.
Then Dunderbeck invented an incredible machine,
That ground things into sausage meat, The Dunderbeck Machine.

Oh Dunderbeck, oh Dunderbeck, how could you be so mean?
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
All the dogs and rats and pussy cats, will never more be seen
for They'll all be ground to sausage in the Dunderbeck machine.

He had the finest butcher shop, the finest ever seen!
And that's where he invented, that terrible machine.
But some began to think, that maybe something wasn't right,
When dogs and rats and pussy cats went missing in the night.

So if you own a dog or cat, you keep them under lock
Cause if you don't, I'm telling you, you're in for quite a shock!
For if you buy them sausages from Dunderbeck, right now
You'll hear those little sausages go squeak and bark and meow!

One fine day a little boy came walking in the store.
He ordered up some sausages and eggs a half a score.
The boy began to whistle, and they whistled up a tune,
And all the little sausages, they danced around the room.

One day the meat inspector came a knocking at the door,
He said, "I've heard of your machine! Your bribe is gonna soar!".
Well Dunderbeck got angry and he pushed him in the meat.
Then he fired up the old machine and now there's more to eat.

One day there was a shortage, and there was no meat to grind.
So Dunderbeck he called the pound to see what he could find.
They said, "We're out of business, we can keep the strays no more."
"But we'll refer all our future finds directly to your store."

Have you ever wondered, when you go to summer camp.
Why the food is good and plentiful and never gives a cramp?
Cause early in the morning you can see the trucker go,
And the sign upon the driver door is "Dunderbeck Meat Co.."

Now, Dunderbeck, he had a wife, the sweetest ever seen,
He left her home alone to weep while working his machine
She grew morose and leaned too close, undressed her by the seams
And no one ever saw the dress come out from the machine.

One night when he was working the machine it would not go.
So Dunderbeck, he climbed inside to see what made it so.
His wife she had a night-mare and came walking in her sleep;
And she gave the crank a hell of a yank and Dunderback was meat.

She woke up when she heard her love depart through the machine,
But seeing opportunity, she threw in herbs and greens,
She had a sale and many tales of the finest sausage seen
Now there's a little bit of Dunderbeck in all the meat machined.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderback's Terrible Machine(Dunderb
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 10:30 AM

Anyone for barbeque?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,LucieBee
Date: 11 Sep 09 - 03:31 PM

Wow, this song really got around, although I've so far seen nothing really definitive regarding it's origins. My father played and sang for many, many dances back in the 30's, 40's, and 50's, and Dunderbeck was always a favorite. Apparently it was considered to be 'danceable' back then as well as fun. Of course, back then whole families went to the dances, so he always played a couple of fun songs 'for the kids.' All this happened in Southern and South-Eastern Oregon and a few places in Northern California. It was a song he had learned while working as a young boy in the logging camps of South-Eastern Oregon in 1927. He learned a surprisingly large number of songs in the logging camps and cowboy camps, most of them repeatable, a few of them rather 'blue' by content, even by today's standards. I only heard those on rare occasion, completely by accident.

Who knew that our forbears could get rowdy? Good times...

Regards,
LB

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,rjm
Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:06 PM

An incidental note:

My daughter-in-law, who is of Dutch extraction and lives in a Dutch area of upstate NY, reacted to my casual mention of Johnny Verbeck (from boy scout camp song in MI in the early 1950s) by telling me of her relative of the same name who was notorious for being mean.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,Nimzo
Date: 10 Oct 10 - 02:10 PM

I stumbled on this thread today. This song is a tradition in my wife's family. (In the version they sing, the butcher's name was "Donnerybeck"). Did anyone ever find a version of the 1876 book that first published this song?

An earlier post said there are only two libraries that have it -- the Library of Congress and Brown University -- and the Library of Congress can't find it. Did anyone try Brown University?

Nimzo

-----------Thread closed due to persistent spamming. If you need it opened again, please contact Joe Offer -------------

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,hopkinja
Date: 02 May 11 - 02:57 PM

We sang this version in summer camp back in the '60's. It's similar to some of the others, with slight twists.

There was a fat old Dutchman, his name was Dunderbach.
He had the finest sausages, and sauerkraut and sack (I think).
He had the finest butchershop the world had ever seen,
And he took out a patent on the sausage meat machine.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH Dunderbach, Oh Dunderbach, how could you be so mean
To ever have invented the sausage meat machine?
The pussy cats, the dogs, the rats will never more be seen,
For they've all been ground to sausage meat in Dunderbach's machine.

One day a boy came walking into the butcher store.
He ordered up some sausages and eggs, a half a score.
And while he was a-waiting, he whistled up a tune
And the Sausages began to hop and dance around the room!

(Chorus)

One night the whole thing busted. The machine refused to go.
So Dunderback, he crawled inside, the reason for to know.
His wife she had a nightmare, she was walking in her sleep and
She gave the crank and awful YANK!!!! ...and Dunderbach was meat.

(Chorus)

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,Lindsey
Date: 05 Jan 13 - 01:38 PM

Oh Johnny Lebeck how could you be so mean
I told you you'd be sorry for inventing that machine
Now all the neighbors' cats and dogs will nevermore be seen
They'll all be grounded sausage meat in Johnny Lebeck's machine

One day the thing stopped working, the damn thing wouldn't go
Johnny Lebeck he climbed inside to see what made it so
His wife was out walking about the house in her sleep
She gave the crank a heck of a yank and Johnny Lebeck was meat


          **This is the song, as it was song to me in my childhood by my father in New Hampshire

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,Jim Ferguson
Date: 25 Jun 14 - 12:22 PM

My Grandfather used to sing a variant of the Dunderbeck song, substituting Bitzerbeck for Dunderbeck. I've found no reference to the Bitzerbeck version on-line, so it might be a family variant.
I don't remember the verses well, but the chorus is essentially the same. His version saw the demise of "long-tailed rats and pussy cats" and called it a "horrible machine".

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,David Gerstein
Date: 07 Dec 14 - 01:38 PM

Toward the top of this thread, Joe Offer and others note that the "Gambolier" melody was first used on stage in 1873; and that Fuld's Book of World-Famous Music adds:

> "The words (of Dunderbeck) appeared in Our Own Boys Songster (New
> York, NY, 1876), p. 6, under the title "Dunderbeck's Machine," to the
> "Air-Thomas's Machine." "Dunderbeck's Machine" is there said to be
> "By Ed. Harrigan," but this might also mean "sung by" Ed. Harrigan...

Nobody on this thread seems to have looked up "Air-Thomas's Machine." There is no song by this name that I can find—but there *is* an *air* called "Thomas's Machine"! It reportedly dates from 1873:

http://monologues.co.uk/musichall/Songs-T/Thomas-Machine.htm

And here is an Amazon link for sheet music that seems to back up that date:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thomass-Sewing-Machine-Song-begins/dp/B0000CZ0EM

If the date is correct, then this predates Dunderbeck and is the first song to link the "Gondolier" melody to verses about a machine. The subject matter is less unusual than Dunderbeck, so it's easy to imagine Dunderbeck as Harrigan's deliberate attempt to make the "Thomas" lyrics crazier.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: Lighter
Date: 07 Dec 14 - 02:51 PM

"Son of a Gambolier" appeared on a New Orleans broadside of 1861, presumably to some form of the familiar tune. The place names (like "Gretna Green" for "Tipper'y Town") localize it to N.O., which had a significant Irish-immigrant population.

The song must have been rather popular in the American Civil War: it was sung at Harvard no later than 1865.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Dec 14 - 06:52 PM

I always wondered whether she was really walking in her sleep...

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: GUEST,Lorraine
Date: 06 May 18 - 03:09 AM

I sure have enjoyed looking at many of the recollections and fond memories of individuals about the Dunderback song. My father sang it to my sister and I when we were young, he knew a few verses and we enjoyed singing it with him. After reading many of the versions on this thread, I rearranged the order of the verses and changed some words and sang it at my father's Celebration of Life on August 27, 2013. It's taken me a few years (2018) to get back to the thread and submit it, here it is...

DUNDERBACK
There was a strange old butcher, whose name was Dunderback
His specialty was sausage meat, and saurkraut, and speck.
Then Dunderback invented an incredible steam machine,
That ground things into sausage meat, The Dunderback Machine.

He had the finest butcher shop, the finest ever seen!
That's where he invented, that terrible machine.
But there were those that knew that something wasn't right,
When dogs and rats and pussy cats went missing in the night.

CHORUS:
Oh Dunderback, oh Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
For having invented that horrible machine?
For pussycats and dogs and rats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderback's machine.

There was a little boy, came walking in the store.
He ordered up some sausages and eggs a half a score.
And while he was a waiting, he whistled up a tune,
And all the little sausages began to dance around the room.

One day the meat inspector came a knocking at the door,
He said, "I've heard of your machine! Your bribe is gonna soar!".
Well Dunderback got angry and pushed the man in deep.
And fired up the old machine and now that man is meat.

CHORUS:
Oh Dunderback, oh Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
For having invented that horrible machine?
For pussycats and dogs and rats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderback's machine.

Now there was a shortage and there was no meat to grind.
So Dunderback he called the pound to see what he could find.
They said, "We're out of business, we can keep the strays no more."
"But we'll refer all future finds directly to your store."

So if you own a dog or cat, you keep them under lock,
'Cause if you don't, I'm telling you, you're in for quite a shock!
For if you buy them sausages from Dunderback, right now
You'll hear those little sausages go squeak and bark and meow!

CHORUS:
Oh Dunderback, oh Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
For having invented that horrible machine?
For pussycats and dogs and rats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderback's machine.

Now, Dunderback, he had a wife, the sweetest ever seen,
He left her home alone, to clean the sausage meat machine
She grew morose and leaned too close, it undressed her by the seams
And no one ever saw that dress come out of the machine.

One night when he was working, the machine it would not go.
So Dunderback climbed inside, the reason for to know.
His wife she had a night-mare, was walking in her sleep;
She gave the crank an awful yank and Dunderback was meat.

CHORUS:
Oh Dunderback, oh Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
For having invented that horrible machine?
For pussycats and dogs and rats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderback's machine.

Now she awoke to the grinding, of his bones through the machine,
But seeing opportunity, she threw in herbs and greens,
She had a sale and many tales of the finest sausage seen
Now there's a bit of Dunderback in all the meat machined.

This might make you wonder, when eating your morning meal.
Where the sausage meat came from and if it is really real?
'Cause early in the morning when you see the trucker go,
The sign upon the driver's door says "Dunderback Meat Co."

CHORUS:
Oh Dunderback, oh Dunderback, how could you be so mean?
For having invented that horrible machine?
For pussycats and dogs and rats, will never more be seen
They'll all be ground to sausage meat in Dunderback's machine.

Subject: RE: Origins: Dunderbeck
From: voyager
Date: 07 May 18 - 10:15 AM

Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made - Mark Twain

My lads sang this tune in our Boy Scout Troop. Thanks to Mudcat for teasing this thread out into a great history of song.

voyager