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"CHAWING CHEWING GUM"
by STAN RANSOM
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BIBLIOGRAPHY & RESOURCES
Barnhart, Katherine. 1994. What’s behind a box of chiclets?Business Mexico American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico. May.
Brown, Frank C. 1962.Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina folklore. Vol. 5. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 412-13.
Callcott, Wilfred. 1964 (c. 1936). Santa Anna. Hamden, CT: Archon Books.
Carter Family. c. 1928. Carter Family Album of Smokey Mountain Ballads. New York: United Publishing Company, 35.
Carter Family. 1941. Carter Family Album of Smokey Mountain Ballads: No. 3. New York: Southern Music Publishing Company, 10.
Emrich, Duncan. 1974. American folk poetry: an anthology. New York: Little, Brown, 217.
Hendrickson, Robert. 1976. The great American chewing gum book. Radnor, PA: Chilton.
1946. Journal of American Folklore 59(234).
1964. New Lost City Ramblers’ songbook. New York: Oak Publications, 174.
Rivenburg, Roy. 1995. Story of chewing gum. Readers Digest 147(884).
Silber, Irwin. 1973. Folksingers’ wordbook. New York: Oak Publications, 239.
Silverman, Jerry. 1975. Jerry Silverman’s folk song encyclopedia. New York: Chappel.
Story of chewing gum. n.d. New York: Association of Chewing Gum Manufacturers. Pamphlet.
Thomas Adams dead. 1905. New York Times. February 8:9.
Singer and historian Stan Ransom (sransom@northnet.org) performs the traditional music of New York State on guitar, hammered dulcimer, mandolin, and autoharp. His recordings, including his own songs, have won awards and commendations and are available through his website, www.stanransom.com. He is the former director of the Clinton-Essex-Franklin library system in upstate New York.
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By STANLEY A. RANSOM
| A comic song about the social improprieties of chewing gum was first recorded in the 1920s but apparently written several decades earlier — not long after the invention of "Black Jack" and other flavored chicle chews. The verses, sung to the tune of "I Love Coffee, I Love Tea," begin with a traditional courtship conceit and end up portraying chewing gum as an obstacle to love and marriage. The author’s great-aunt and great-uncle were among the nineteenth century performers who transmitted this popular song. |
A late nineteenth century comic song suggested that chewing gum would scare away potential suitors, but performing the music together led to marriage for James Sheldon and Estelle Saeger; they celebrated their wedding on January 12, 1892. Photo courtesy of Muriel McCarthy |
The above is an abstract of the full article which was published in Voices Vol. 26, Fall-Winter, 2000. Voices is the membership magazine of the New York Folklore Society. To become a charter subscriber, join the New York Folklore Society now.
CHAWING CHEWING GUM
Traditional song edited by Stan Ransom
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Mama sent me to the spring, She told me not to stay;
I fell in love with a pretty little girl, Could not get away. |
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[Variant ending: And I stayed there all day.] |
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Chorus: Chawing chewing gum, Chewing chawing gum,
Chawing chewing gum, Chewing chawing gum.
First, she gave me peaches, Then she gave me pears,
Then she gave me fifty cents, And kissed me on the stairs.
Mama don’t allow me to whistle, Daddy don’t allow me to sing
They don’t want me to marry, Gonna marry just the same.
I wouldn’t marry a preacher, I’ll tell you the reason why,
He hollers when he preaches, Makes the people cry.
I wouldn’t marry a doctor, I’ll tell you the reason why,
He rides around the country, And makes the people die.
I wouldn’t marry a lawyer, I’ll tell you the reason why,
Every time he opens his mouth, He tells a great big lie.
But I would marry a farmer, I’ll tell you the reason why,
He always has so much to eat, And he makes that pumpkin pie.
I took my girl to a dance last night, All the folks was there,
She took out her chewing gum, And left it on a chair.
A nice young man came up and sat, And asked my girl to dance,
When he tried to rise, he couldn’t budge, He was stuck fast by his pants.
I took my girl to church last night, What do you think she done?
She walked right up to the preacher’s face, and chawed her chewing gum!
I took my girl for a buggy ride, And to watch the setting sun,
Just as I bent to kiss her, She chawed her chewing gum,
I turned the buggy right around, And straightaway home we come,
I might have been a married man, If it hadn’t been for gum!
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