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

05 Oct 11 - 05:17 PM (#3234510)
Subject: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,sheepyone

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

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05 Oct 11 - 05:56 PM (#3234535)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: giles earle

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.

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05 Oct 11 - 09:06 PM (#3234615)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST

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

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05 Oct 11 - 10:29 PM (#3234639)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,leeneia

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

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06 Oct 11 - 04:30 PM (#3235002)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: Jim Dixon

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.

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06 Oct 11 - 04:39 PM (#3235009)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: Jim Dixon

Mother of vinegar at Wikipedia.

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06 Oct 11 - 09:50 PM (#3235124)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Folk song or poem
From: GUEST,sheepyone

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 :-)

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20 Feb 12 - 11:40 PM (#3311447)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Something Similar!

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!

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21 Feb 12 - 03:36 AM (#3311494)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Iona

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!

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21 Feb 12 - 03:37 AM (#3311495)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Iona

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

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21 Feb 12 - 09:29 AM (#3311611)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST

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.

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05 Sep 15 - 08:32 PM (#3735677)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST

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)

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14 Jan 16 - 05:12 PM (#3765590)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,guest

GUEST,Something Similar!

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

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05 Jan 17 - 10:25 AM (#3830586)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST,Rebecca Woods

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.

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19 Mar 20 - 11:21 AM (#4040717)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: GUEST

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.

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20 Mar 20 - 09:50 PM (#4041054)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: Jim Dixon

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!

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21 Mar 20 - 12:32 AM (#4041064)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'the vinegar's mother was dead'
From: cnd

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").

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