"This is the day we give babies away" (1890s)

Fri Feb 18 08:44:14 UTC 2005

Google Answers made $15. I can provide a better answr faster, and I
guarantee you, I'll probably never make $15 the rest of my life.
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_http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=476372_
(http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=476372)
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What's the origin of the following saying? "This is the day they give

babies away with a pound of butter."
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Subject: Re: origin of this aphorism
Answered By: _pinkfreud-ga_
(http://answers.google.com/answers/ratings?user=8557989531679117785)  on 17 Feb 2005 21:35 PST
  This line comes from an old song. Apparently the original version had

"half a pound of tea" instead of "a pound of butter." "Half a pound of

cheese" is also sometimes mentioned. According to some sources, the

song may date to the early part of the Twentieth Century. It was

widespread by the 1920s.

"This is the day we give babies away

 With a half a pound of tea

 You just open the lid, and out pops the kid

 With a twelve month guarantee.

'The Day They Gave Babies Away,' a story by Dale Eunson that appeared

in the Christmas 1946 issue of Cosmopolitan, their most successful

Christmas story ever. It was published as a book the following year.

The reference also mentioned a soldiers' ditty circulating in the

1940s that went 'Today is the day they give babies away / with a half

a pound of tea. / If you know any ladies who want any babies / Just

send them around to me.'

I can add references in Vance Randolph's Roll Me in Your Arms:

"Unprintable" Ozark Folksongs and Folklore (Univ. of Arkansas Press,

1992) and Ed Cray's 2nd edition of The Erotic Muse (Univ. of Illinois

Press, 1992), which mention its inclusion in a Josiah Combs 1925 book

of Kentucky/West Virginia folk songs and G. Legman's recollection of

the song in Scranton ca. 1925. A Google search revealed a number of

interesting recollections and usages (including another short story)

of the song and title, one or two of which may be earlier than 1925,

possibly from the turn of the (previous) century."

from Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine: The Songfinder

_http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1197/is_1_48/ai_113887014_
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1197/is_1_48/ai_113887014)

Here you'll find a long thread discussing the song:

The Mudcat Cafe: Today's the day we give babies away

_http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=50412_
(http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=50412)

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "day * give babies away"

_http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22day+*+give+babies+away%22_
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="day+*+give+babies+away")

I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, please

request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before

you rate my answer.

Best regards,

pinkfreud

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(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
     _Evening State Journal _
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=W0CtXEq/mhWKID/6NLMW2i/c0lm3dQ8O434h6TH5qPc455wPLPq9cEIF+CsZYmrz)  Friday,
August 10, 1928 _Lincoln,_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:lincoln+this+is+the+day+and+give+babies+away)  _Nebraska_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:nebraska+this+is+the+day+and+give+ba
bies+away)
...of you, AND play  "THIS IS THE DAY THEy  GIVE BABIES AWAY" on a set of
pearly.....used In thai  NeTHErlANDs. New York DAY by DAY. By O. O.  Mtlntyre.
OPENED..
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_Nevada State Journal _
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=NuHyyu1GcYSKID/6NLMW2kIbN5DJFP4VixULPCNvE2VqsC6fUmwfvw==)  Thursday, June 08, 1911
_Reno,_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:reno+this+is+the+day+and+give+babies+away)  _Nevada_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:nevada+this+is+the+day+and+give+babies+away)
...BLUE-EYED BABY I  THIS IS THE DAY Tfiey GIVE  BABIES AWAY. Do You Want a
Little.....THIS  IS tho dtiy THEj- GIVE AWAY. onc'i ion a.  lil'tle 'with..

Pg. 8, col. 6:
_BLUE-EYED BABY_
_WANTS A HOME_

_This Is the Day They Give_
_Babies Away. Do You_
_Want a Little Fairy?_

This is the day they give babies away. Want one?
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(PROQUEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
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_Queries  and Answers_
(http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&did=86893066&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1108715323&cli
entId=65882)
New York Times (1857-Current file).  New York, N.Y.: Jan 4, 1948. p. BR27 (1
page)
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_"Give Babies Away"_
MISS GRACE H. LIBEY, Howe, Ind.: In answer to B. E. (Nov. 16) the  lines
wanted are a jingle that reads complete as follows. It was used to  afvertise some
packaged tea between 1893 and 1902 and pictures of babies  accompanied the
package.
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Today is the day we give babies away with a half a pound of tea.
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If you know any ladies who want any babies, just send them around to  me.
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There are white babies and black babies and babies of every degree.
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For this is the day we give babies away with a half a pound of tea.
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Miss Gertrude Gordon, Matilda M. Stern of New York, and E. Bolles,
Harrington Park, N. J., answered this request.
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Dr. J. Hart Toland, Philadelphia, Pa., and Mrs. Dave Reed, N. Y., wrote  that
the original version of this parody was the lyric to George Rosey's
"Honeymoon March" (words by Dave Reed Jr.) published in 1895 by Jos. Stern &  Co. The
Edward N. Marks Music Corporation is the present owner of the copyright.  A
book titled "The Day They Gave Babies Away," by Dale Eunson was published in
November of last year.