KellyJulie 12, Jul 11, 2010
-snip-
This video shows three White tween girls playing the hand clap game "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty".
Here's my transcription of this version of that rhyme:
"Mail man mailman do your duty
Here comes ah lady
with an African booty
She can do the pom poms
She can do the twist
But most of all she can
kiss kiss kiss
with her
red
hot
lips
K I S S I N G
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases three YouTube videos of the recreational rhyme "Mailman Mailman Fo Your Duty".This post also presents my transcriptions of those rhymes as well as two word only examples of that rhyme.
The focus of this post is to consider why it appears to be common for girls who aren't Black to chant versions of that rhyme that include the line "Here comes a lady with an African booty".
I reached the conclusion that the "African booty" line is commonly found in contemporary United States examples of "Mailman Mailman" after watching all of the YouTube videos of that rhyme (as of Nov. 28, 2023). I also reached that conclusion after reading multiple online examples of "Mailman Mailman" whose contributors indicate are from the 1990s on.
In addition, I've reached that conclusion based on my personal experiences with this rhyme as an African American woman who learned it (as a jump rope rhyme) in the mid 1950s (Atlantic City, New Jersey) and who has heard my daughter and other people chant this rhyme in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from the 1980s on.
Information about how to play contemporary versions of "Mailman Mailman" (with the legs stretched out further with each iteration of the rhyme until someone falls down) is given below in Example #2 in the words only section of this post.
Read near the end of this pancocojams post for my speculation about some reasons why White girls and other girls who aren't Black may chant the "Here comes a lady with an African booty" in their versions of "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" rhymes.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/what-african-booty-means-and-examples.html
for a previous pancocojams post on this subject that is entitled What
"African Booty" Means And Examples of The Use Of The Term
"African Booty" In "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty"
Children's Rhymes
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/11/my-comments-about-whether-phrase.html "My Comments About Whether The Phrase "African
Booty" In The Children's Rhyme "Mailman Mailman" Is Racist" for another closely related pancocojams post on this rhyme.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Mailman Mailman
Celina Ankrom, Jun 24, 2009
My little sister and her cousin playing Mailman, Mailman
after i taught them an hour earlier
-snip-
This video shows two young girls who aren't Black playing the hand clap game "Mailman Mailman".
Here's my transcription of this version of that rhyme:
Mailman mailman do your duty
Here comes ah lady
with an African booty
She can do the pom poms
She can do the twist
But most of all she can
kiss kiss kiss"
****
SHOWCASE #3- Mailman mailman do your duty ("age appropriate version")
glancei, September 26, 2015
-snip-
This video shows two Black tween girls playing a version of "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty".
Here's my transcription of this version of that rhyme.
Mailman Mailman
Do
you duty
Here comes Mrs American beauty
She can do the pom poms
She can do the twist
But most of all she can
split split split
****
TWO WORD ONLY VERSIONS OF MAILMAN MAILMAN DO YOUR DUTY" FROM USC DIGITAL FOLKLORE ARCHIVES THAT INCLUDE THE "LADY WITH THE AFRICAN BOOTY" LINE
EXAMPLE #1: MAILMAN [fourth entry on that page]
"Main piece:
The mail man one, “Mailman mailman do your duty here comes a lady with an african booty she can do the pom pom she can do the twist most of all she can kiss kiss with her red hot lips k i s s i n g”
Background information (Why does the informant know or like this piece? Where or who did they learn it from? What does it mean to them?):
It was one of the rhymes the kids knew. It wasn’t a favorite but it sticks because it’s the most ridiculous one out of them all. Learned it in 1st grade from some female peer in her class. Informant thinks this one is ridiculous and doesn’t know why little kids sing it because it’s a little inappropriate.
Context (When or where would this be performed? Under what circumstance?):
It’s a hand clapping game for little kids to sing together.
Personal Analysis:
The “african booty part” is kind of racist. Even the
informant said that it’s a weird song to think about. As a kid, she just went
along with what the others were doing. I think it has a lot of strange
connotations that kids don’t know about. I don’t think this has anything to do
with Africa, but I wonder why American kids sing it. Why is it the mail man’s
duty to kiss the lady? It’s actually really uncomfortable to think about. “do
the pom pom” isn’t even proper grammar. I wonder who was the first person to
start this song."
-snip-
This page included the following information when I retrieved it on November 29, 2023:
"This entry was posted in Game and tagged African, clapping,
Game, mailman, pom pom on April 29, 2017 by Helen Kong."
-snip-
This page included the following information when I retrieved it in Nov. 2018:
"Nationality: Korean-American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Korean
Age: 18
Occupation: undergraduate student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 2017-4-26"
-snip-
From the
It appears from "Personal Analysis" section it appears that Helen Kong is sharing a rhyme that she remembers and not a rhyme that she collected from another person.
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EXAMPLE #1: MAILMAN
From http://folklore.usc.edu/mailman-mailman/
"Performance date: April 13, 2018
Mailman Mailman
The following was an interview of a Participant/interviewee
about a folk game that is passed around mainly in elementary. She is marked as
CT. I am marked as DM.
CT: Mailman, Mailman here comes the lady with African booty. She could do the pom pom (arms parallel to the chest and moves them back and forth). She could do the twist twist (moves hips in a circle). Most of all she could kiss kiss kiss (two fingers on lips for every kiss said) with the red hot lips. K-I-S-S-I-N-G (open legs a little for every letter).
Background/Context:
The participant is ten years old in the fifth grade. She grew up in Los Angeles, California, but she has Mexican parents and family. Christine, who is marked as CT, is my sister. I was at home for my mother’s birthday party on Friday, April 13, 2018, when I overheard my sister playing a hand game with my cousin. I noticed it was the same games I played in elementary, but the lyrics of the game were slightly different. I began to ask her questions about the game. In this particular game, the objective was to see who could spread their legs further apart without falling down.
DM: Where did you learn this game?
CT: I learn this from one Roslyn (her friend).
DM: Where did you learn this?
CT: At school.
DM: Do you know where she learned it?
CT: She learned it from Cara.
DM: Why do you like this game?
CT: I like this game because it’s funny and that he is attracted to someone.
DM: What is the meaning of this game to you?
CT: It means to me like, like, like when, like when you wanna make someone laugh you could make them laugh by this game.
Analysis/ My Thoughts:
While I was in elementary, this “Mailman” game was very popular during recess when we had enough time to rest but not to play full games like kickball or handball. My sister told me this game was also very popular in her recess. Although they were both similar, the lyrics are different. Today’s version is shown above while the one I did in elementary nine years ago goes as stated: Mailman, Mailman do your duty. Here comes the lady with the African booty. She can do the pom pom (arms parallel to the chest and moves them back and forth). She can the twist (moves hips in a circle). Most of all she can kiss kiss kiss (two fingers on lips for every kiss said). K-I-S-S (open legs a little for every letter).
This entry was posted in Childhood, Game, Gestures, Musical
and tagged elementary on April 23, 2018 by maresde@usc.edu."
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MY SPECULATION ABOUT WHY THE "HERE COMES A LADY WITH AN AFRICAN BOOTY" LINE MAY BE COMMON IN A NUMBER OF EXAMPLES OF THE "MAILMAN MAILMAN" RHYME
These speculations are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Some of these points contradict each other.
I have no way of determining whether any of these speculations are true.
1."Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" versions that include the line "Here comes a lady with an African booty" has become the standard versions of that rhyme (in the United States).
Versions of "Mailman Mailman Do Your Duty" that include the "lady with an African booty" appear to be more common now (in 2023) online than other versions. Therefore, that's the version that people learn and that's the version they chant.
2. Children often chant recreational rhymes from rote memory without thinking about what the words mean. How they play the hand game (to phrase it in African American terms "how they do the hand game") is much more important than what is being chanted.
3. Children know that the words "African booty" come from African Americans. They place a high value on the way African Americans play recreational rhymes (considering them to be "cool"). They repeat what the words that they think or know that African Americans say, whether or not they know what those words mean.
5. Children chant the words "Here comes a lady with an African booty" rather than the once standard words "Here comes a Miss American beauty" because they consider those "American beauty" words to be old fashioned.
6. The word "African" in the phrase "African booty" is one example of the multicultural nature of the everyday life of some children, whether or not it's the everyday life of the children who are chanting that rhyme. Children believe that it is natural to be around people of different races and ethnicities and share in cultural experiences that aren't their own, whether or not they understand those experiences or cultural references. They don't consider mentioning someone's race or nationality to be racist.
7. Children know what the words "African booty" mean (i.e. a Black lady with a big butt). Also, they like chanting that line because they consider it to be a compliment for a woman to have a big butt.
8. Children know what the words "African booty" mean and they like chanting that line because they think they are being risque when they say it with very little or no consequences.
What do you think about these speculations? Why do you think that girls in the United States chant that "Here comes a lady with an African booty"?
Is this the version that you remember?
If you live outside of the United States, are you familiar with the "Mailman Mailman Do You Duty" rhyme? If so, what version do (did) you chant?
For the folkloric record, please share the version of this rhyme that you know. Please remember to include demographic information such as when you chanted this rhyme (year or decade) and where you chanted it (city/state and country if outside of the United States).
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