A few years ago there came into my possession a curious piece of IBM history, a thin paperback volume of 54 pages, privately printed, entitled “Songs of the IBM, 1937 Edition”. The opening page lays out the context: For thirty-seven years, the gatherings and conventions of our IBM workers have expressed in happy songs the […]
Music
What is the Earliest (First) Christmas Carol?
(You should click the above time line to get a larger, more readable version). Before we can answer the question of the first or earliest Christmas carol, we need to deal with some preliminary questions. What is a carol? What is a Christmas carol? And how does one determine a date for Christmas carol? None […]
The most recognized tune of all time
Simple question. What tune would you say is the most recognized tune? If we limited ourselves to the United States and the present day, the answer might be “Happy Birthday.” What if we included all time and all nations? “Happy Birthday” goes back to only 1893. Some tunes are much older, like “Greensleeves,” (16th century) […]
Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
I’ve been reading Games and Songs of American Children by William Wells Newell, a Dover reprint of the 1903 edition. I find it fascinating how games are transmitted from generation to generation, games like “Tag”, “Button button who has the button?”, “The church and the steeple” or “Odd or even?” These games are not learned […]