Examples Of "Clean" Versions Of The Children's Rhyme "We Are The __ Girls/We Wear Our Hair In Curls" (Parodies Of The Song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye")

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some examples of clean* versions of the children's rhyme "We Are The __ Girls/We Wear Our Hair In Curls". These rhymes are parodies of the vaudeville and music hall song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" that was first performed in the United States in the 1880s. 

These examples are from a discussion thread on the folk music website Mudcat Discussion Forum. I started that discussion thread on August 23, 2009 and I published most of the "posts" (comments) on that thread. That discussion thread is still available for reading but was closed for new comments in 2013.**

The content of this pancocojams post is presented for folkloric, historical, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
*By "clean versions" of rhymes I mean those that don't include any sexually explicit or sexually suggestive content. Examples that include such content are referred to as "dirty" versions. 

**The last comment in that Mudcat discussion thread was published in 2013. That disnssion thread then had a note indicating that it was closed for new comments. That action is rare on Mudcat, Based on my recollection of comments from Mudcat's long time moderator Joe Offer, the main reason that Mudcat discussion threads are closed dor new comments is because those particular threads were receiving a lot of spam or inappropriate comments. Given the fact that there are lots of dirty (sexually explicit) versions of this rhyme, I can guess it's possible that a number of non-members of that Mudcat were publishing dirty versions of that rhyme on that discussion thread which the moderator then had to delete.

WARNING - Some examples of "We  Are The __ Girls/We Wear Our Hair In Curls" that remain on that Mudcat Discussion thread are categorized as "dirty versions" of that rhyme.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/07/examples-of-ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay.html for the 2017 pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of Children's Parodies Of Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay, Part I (Clean Versions)". That post presents some information about the 19th century song "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" along with some examples of children's parodies of that song. That post also includes a link to Part II of that series. Part II includes excerpts of several online articles about the reasons why children chant anti-social and "rude" rhymes/songs. Part II also showcases selected examples of "sexualized" ("dirty") examples of "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ay" children's rhymes.

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/04/more-examples-of-clean-versions-of-we.html for the pancocojams post entitled "More Examples Of Clean Versions of "We Are __Girls/We Wear Our Hair In Curls" ".

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[Added April 15, 2025] PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES AND CHEERS THAT ARE FEATURED IN THIS BLOG
Pancocojams blog includes posts about children's recreational rhymes and cheers because I am interested that subject in and of itself.

Although pancocojams focuses on African American culture and other Black cultures throughout the world, the children's recreational rhymes and cheers that are presented in this blog may be chanted by or originate from other cultures. Some of the recreational rhymes/cheers that are presented in this blog may not even be known or performed by any Black people. 

However, I am especially interested in documenting, sharing, and studying recreational rhymes and cheers that originated with Black people as well as documenting the influence of race on the types of recreational rhymes and cheers that children (usually girls) perform, including racialized rhymes (adding references to race in rhymes), and/or differences between the versions of particular rhymes/cheers that are chanted by different races within the same periods of time &  the same countries, and/or differences between how the rhyme/cheers are performed by people of different races within the same period of time in the same country.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123101

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. These comments are given "as is" including spelling and grammatic errors.

1. Subject: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 11:00 AM

"We wear our hair in curls" is the second line of a rhyme or song that begins with the line "We are the _____ girls". The name of the city where the people singing the song live is usually inserted into the blank space of that first line. Instead of the city name, the name of the singer's school, camp, or another group that they belong to may be used. I chose the title "We wear our hair in curls" because in this forum the blank space in that first line might make that title confusing.

I believe that "We wear our hair in curls" originated as a children's playground rhyme or song. A version of this rhyme was popularized by drag queens who sung it during the 1969 Stonewall Riots (examples and more information about that significant event will be provided below).

The only example of this rhyme that I have found to date on this forum are in this post http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=38412#973994 which references the Stonewall Riots. In addition, several posters to a thread about a 1936 recording of the Blues song Poontang Little, Poontang Small believe that a line in that song is "Put my dress above my knees". That line is similar to a standard line from "We wear our hair in curls"-"We wear our dresses up above our knees". For what it's worth, I don't agree with that transcription of that line from that Blues song. However, I credit it for getting me started on this effort of compiling multiple examples of that children's rhyme.

In this thread, I'll share some examples of & comments about this children's rhyme/song. I hope that other Mudcat members and guests will share the version of this composition that they know and also include demographical information (geographical location, year or decade they first learned or heard the rhyme, gender, age of those reciting the rhyme*, and how the rhyme was performed-meaning any accompanying movements such as handclap routines, or jumping/skipping).

* Although many people appear to be reluctant to include racial demographics, I think it would also be interesting and helpful to include such information. In my opinion, information the race/ethnicity of those singing this composition could help determine whether there are any differences between the types of rhymes, the text of rhymes, and the rhyme performance activities of different races/ethnic populations of children-and if so, what some of those differences are. By "ethnicity", I mean the United States' definition of "Latino" (Hispanic). However, other ethnic groups could also be specified.

NOTE: Some of the examples that will be posted to this thread are sexually explicit.

Thanks, in advance for your contributions to this thread
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor’s Note April 13, 2025: This pancocojams post doesn't quote any of the comments or portion of quoted comments that include sexually explicit ("dirty") examples of the rhyme "We Are The __ Girls" ("We /Wear Our Hair In Curls").

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2) Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 11:53 AM  

We Are The Catty Girls

We are the catty girls

We wear our hair in curls.

We wear our dresses

up above our knees.

We are too old for toys

But we're just right for boys."... 

-Barbara Ray, (African American) from her memories of her childhood in the Buff area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid 1950s; collected by Azizi Powell, 1996
-snip-
This comment includes another rhyme "Hey baby. How 'bout a date" which Barbara shared was often chanted right after that first rhyme.

Barbara who was a work colleague and is still friend of mine) said that girls around ages 8-10 years old would sing this song just for fun....Barbara said that there wasn't any movements to the first rhyme, except saying the words like you were acting out the part....Variants of the lines "We are too old for toys/But we're just right for boys" are found in some Michael Jackson versions of "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky"...
-snip-
This comment and some other selected comments from that discussion thread don't include portions that refer to other rhymes or material that doesn't directly relate to the "We Are The __ Girls" ("We /Wear Our Hair In Curls").rhyme.

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3) Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 12:08 PM

"I failed to mention that the tune for "We Are The Catty Girls" was the song "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay".

That Pittsburgh examples differs from the other versions that I've read to date. All of those versions mention the girl's city or group and not what the girls considered to be an admirable attribute."...

**
4) Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 01:08 PM

Here's some examples of the rhyme/song "We wear our hair in curls that mention the girls' school, or the name of their camp cabin, or some other demographical information:

FAIRFIELD GIRLS

We are the Fairfield Girls!

We wear our hair in curls!

We wear our dungarees,

Rolled up above our knees!

 

We wear our Fathers' shirts!

We wear our Brothers' ties!

And when it comes to boys,

We take them by surprize!

- late fifties hometown jingle; Fairfield, Connecticut

http://www.ellefagan.com/wordsite/fairfieldgirl.html

**

WE ARE THE DUMTY GIRLS

We are the Dumpty Girls

(Tra la la boom di ay)

We are the Dumpty girls.

We wear our hair in curls.

We wear our dungarees.

Above our dirty knees.

We like to ride and swim.

With lots of pep and vim.

We are the Dumpty girls,

Of Strawderman.

-Camp Strawderman Song Book

Aug 17, 2003

["Dumpty" appears to be the name of a cabin at Camp Stawderman". However, I couldn't find on that page where that camp is located]

http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:ixVOuE1m61gJ:www.sheldenstudios.com/images/camp_buttons/cs-songs.pdf+we+wear+our+hair+in+curls

**
SENIOR GIRLS

We are the senior girls

We wear our hair in curls

We wear our dungarees way down below our knees

We don't tuck in our shirts

We are the biggest flirts

Hey guys here come the senior girls!

-YMCA Camp Eberhart ,southwest lower Michigan

http://campeb.org/alumni/songs.htm "

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5) Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Carly
Date: 23 Aug 09 - 01:45 PM

"In the 1950's in Takoma Park, Maryland, we were singing (and jumping rope as we danced to)

 We are the Pepsi girls

 We wear our hair in curls

 We wear our dungarees

 Rolled up above our knees

We wear our mothers' skirts

We wear our fathers' ties

And when we meet a guy

We simply roll our eyes.

 

Carly Gewirz"

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6. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 08:36 AM

The earliest version of "We wear our hair in curls" that I've found so far is the mid 1950s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rhyme. However, it's possible that this rhyme is older than that.

In my opinion, the "we wear our hair in curls" line refers to the once highly controvesial custom of women cutting their long hair and wearing it in a "bob" hair cut. American ballroon dancer Irene Castle started this fashion in 1915 when she cut her hair for the convenience short hair provided her. See this excerpt from

http://www.hairarchives.com/private/1920s.htm": *

"Hairstyles of the 1920s created more controversy in hair fashion than in any other period of American culture. And one hairstyle, known simply as "the bob," would be at the center of this great debate. First introduced during the Great War, the bob haircut would eventually cause a revolution in the way women would wear their hair forevermore.

It all started in 1915 with the debut of the Castle Bob, named after the celebrated ballroom dancer Irene Castle. While cutting her hair for convenience, little would she know that she would forever be associated with triggering a revolution in 20th-century hair fashion. The Castle Bob would be the first indication of things to come -the rage of short hair.

The free-spirited youth of the day readily accepted the new look and made it the forerunner of many fads and fashions which eventually led to new curling, perming and coloring methods. When a woman had her hair cut short, she grew bolder. Soon she began wearing 'long beads, short skirts, rolled stockings, and rough on her knees,' an expression synonymous with "the flapper". The rebellious change in hairstyle was just the beginning of a major change in societal norms and values seen during the 1920s."...

-snip-

[Italics added by me for emphasis.]

* Warning to those, like me, who detest sound clips: A sound clip of "Roaring 20s" music starts as soon as you click on this site and plays continually until you leave that site (or maybe it still continues to play, who knows?). My suggestion is to valiantly try to ignore that sound clip since the material on that page is quite interesting."

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7. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 09:07 AM

"The line "We wear our dungarees" furthers the declaration of defiance against societal norms since prior to the 1970s or so, good girls were only suppossed to wear dresses or skirts and blouses-even while playing.

Note for instance, that all the African American school girls in Bob Eberlein's, Bess Lomax Hawes's historically rich 1967 film. "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" are wearing dresses.

Pizza Pizza Daddy O (a look at continuity and change in girl's playground games at a Los Angeles school)

**

Also, see this response to the question:"When did women in American start wearing dungarees?"

"I would hazard a guess that it was in the early 50s. I remember wearing dungarees rolled up into a large cuff and a man-tailered white shirt outside the dungarees (not tucked in) when I was 12 or 13 years old.

I remember slacks for women becoming popular around the same time. We always wore skirts or dresses to school and in the late 50s to work in an office. Slacks or dungarees were NOT an option at the time.

Pant suits were not worn by women until the mid-sixties and it felt strange wearing them at first. I remember a friend wearing one to a party at my house - she walked in and ran straight in to the bathroom - she was that self-conscious about it!"

MusicloverOrange on May 17 2008

http://askville.amazon.com/women-American-start-wearing-dungarees/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=9776116

-snip-

Just for the record, the references to the "50s" and "mid-sixties" refers to the "1950s and the middle nineteen sixties". (This is one of my pet peeves. After all, the "50s" and "mid sixties" could refer to other centuries than the 20th century."

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8. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 09:36 AM

"Notice-I've changed my mind about this rhyme originating before the 1950s. See how fast I can change my mind? ;o)

While I still believe that the line "We wear our hair in curls" refers to the "bobbed" short hair style, the line about wearing dungarees dates this rhyme as being post 1950s. As I recall, before the 1960s, females (women and girls) didn't wear pants out in public. But then again as a child, I recall wearing shorts and "pedal pushers" (shorts that were below your knees in length, almost like contemporary "capris".)

Here's another trip down memory lane-

When I was going to school in the 1950s, in the winter time, the only pants that girls wore outside were snow suit leggings, However, those snow suit leggings were considered to be too babyish for pre-teens and teenagers, and so girls either braved the cold without anything on their legs but knee socks, or we wore pants underneath our dresses. But as soon as we arrived at school or wherever else we were going, we would quickly take off those pants.

See this second article from When did women start wearing dungarees?

"early 1960's"

"In the 50s? Maybe- if she was working on a farm. Women in the cities wore dresses and skirts. (And slips and girdles and stockings.)

In 1960, in NYC, there was a 3 foot snow fall - a lot of snow for NYC. The women at Brooklyn College petitioned the Dean of Women to allow them to wear slacks. (Slacks, not jeans or "pants".) The Dean relented to the point that women students were allowed to wear slacks under their skirts, but they had to remove them in the vestibules of the buildings, and put them back on in the vestibules. Rosie the Riveter didn't attend Brooklyn College.

Times were very different then. Seeing a woman in pants in the 50s would have been only slightly less strange than seeing a man in a skirt today. (Women also smoothed their skirts when sitting - something you seldom see today. It's a device sometimes used in time travel novels - she sits without smoothing her skirt, she's from the future [of the 40s or 50s].)

Beach wear and informal wear was different - but a decent woman didn't wear jeans. (Although they did manufacture girl's jeans - the zipper was in the side, in the pocket area. But I never saw them in women's sizes.)

In the mid 50s, crinolines were in style - in some schools they had rules about the number of crinolines a girl could wear, because 2 girls sitting across an aisle from each other, each wearing 3 crinolines, would block the aisle. Also Poodle skirts, cardigans and saddle shoes were big."

by: Houston_proud on May 19 2008

-snip-

And I agree with Houston_proud that it was more likely the 1960s rather than the 1950s. Maybe it was even the mid 1960s.

Of course, the question should read "When did women >i>in the United States start wearing dungarees or other pants out in public?

What answer would you give to this question?"

****

9. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 10:13 AM

"You would think by now I would have learned not to jump to conclusions about a rhyme based on only one line of that rhyme.

But I'm still a grasshopper when it comes to textual analysis of rhymes. (Pardon the "Kung Fu" television show reference).

At any rate, I think that "We wear short dresses above our knees" predates the "We wear our dungarees".

Reinforcing my position that this rhyme was an in your face taunt directed at society in general, wearing either short dresses or wearing dungarees were both daring fashion styles for American females way back when. Note: By "shortened dresses" I'm not referring to 1960s mini-skirts, but to dresses that were knee length or slightly above the knees. (Reminder to view that "Pizza Pizza Daddy-O" clip whose hyperlink was given earlier in this thread).

The mid 1950s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania version of this rhyme that my friend Barbara remembers includes the lines "We wear our dresses/up above our knees"

And the "Seven Sisters" version of this rhyme from Newark, New Jersey has been dated from as early as the mid 1960s, though it may have been known earlier than that. That version is:

Seven little sisters

Like to boogie down

Like to turn around

Like to touch the ground

Like to wear their skirts above their knees

-snip-

However, Carly remembers a 1950s version from Takoma Park, Maryland which includes the line "We wear our dungarees/Rolled up above our knees". And the famous version from the Stonewall Riot also refers to dungarees and not dresses: "We wear our dungarees/ Above our nelly knees!"

There's little doubt that the Stonewall nelly knees" line is a variant form of the original line. But I guess we have too few examples to determine without any doubt which line came first-"wear short dresses above our knees" or "wear dungarees rolled up above our knees".

If I were a betting person, my money would be on the "wear our dresses above our knees" line. But I never gamble. ;o)"

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10.  Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 10:23 AM

"Here's a bit of trivia:

"Bobby-pins" comes from "the bob" women's fashion hair cut.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_pin and that http://www.hairarchives.com/private/1920s.htm that has the midi sound clip and

Am I the only one who didn't know this?"

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11. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 10:56 AM

[…]

"Here's an example of "We wear our hair in curls" that mentions mini-skirts and>/i> includes the "toys/boys" line:

we're scoil mhuire girls!

we wear our hair in curls

we wear our dungarees above our sexy knees!

sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la

we're scoil mhuire girls!

we wear our hair in curls

we wear our daddy's shirts over our mini-skirts!

sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la

we're the scoil mhuire girls! we wear our hair in curls

and when it comes to toys

we'd rather play with boys!

sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la

we're scoil mhuire girls!

we wear our hair in curls we don't smoke or drink

that's what our teachers think!

sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la

 

http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=2235037070

-snip-
Also note the "sha la la boom sha la sha la la boom sha la" which is a clue that this rhyme uses the "Ta Ra Ra Boom De Aye" tune."
-snip-
Pancocojams Editor's Note April 13, 2025 -That website is no longer available.

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12. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 11:45 AM

"Her's another example of "We wear our hair in curls" that mentions mini-skirts and includes the "toy/boy" line:

We are the Millfield girls

We wear our hair in curls

We wear our dungarees

Right up above our knees

We wear our fathers' shirts

Instead of mini skirts

And when it comes to boys

We treat them just like toys

We neither smoke nor drink

That's what our parents think

But when they're out of sight

We do it day and night

 

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071104023000AAle8Ch

-snip-

Unfortunately, like most examples of children's schoolyard rhymes found online, this example has no demographical information as to when the poster learned it. The name "Millfield" is given, but not where "Millfield" is located or if it's a city, school, camp or some other group.

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13.  Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Aug 09 - 05:22 PM

"CORRECTED WORDS TO SONGS:

I just called up my friend Barbara Ray because-after the fact-it occurred to me that she might have minded my using her first and last name on this forum. Thankfully, she doesn't mind at all.

But Barbara said that the words that I posted pn this thread aren't right. I have no explanation for the divergence in the lines I wrote down from her then. It may have been because we were rushing as I had asked her about the children's rhymes she knew while we were on a work break. At any rate, here are the words that Barbara sang to me today over the telephone:a

WE ARE THE CATTY GIRLS [corrected words]

We are the catty girls

We wear our hair in curls.

We wear our dungarees

rolled up above our knees.

We wear our sweaters tight.

The boys say that's alright.

We are too old for toys

But we're just right for boys.

-Barbara Ray, (African American) from her memories of her childhood in the Buff area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, mid 1950s; collected by Azizi Powell, 2009"...

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14. Subject: RE: We Wear Our Hair In Curls
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Aug 09 - 10:23 AM

"Here's some random thoughts about the rhymes posted on this thread:

I feel the need to reiterate that I've not read enough examples of "We are the ___/We wear our hair in curls" to say with any high degree of certainty whether the "wear our dungarees up above our knees" version predates the "wear our dresses up above our knees" version. But, so far, there certainly appear to be more "dungerees" versions than "dresses" versions.

But "Which version has the most examples?" is an entirely different question than "Which version came earlier:" and the question "Which is the earliest version?" (if not which is the earliest version?"

And if indeed there really are more versions of this rhyme that include the "dungaree above the knee" line, could that in any way be the result of the media attention that has been given to the Stonewall version of this rhyme? You will recall that the Stonewall version includes a referent to "dungarees".

 This question addresses the influence the media can have on the spread of children's rhymes, and the acceptance of one version of a rhyme instead of another."...

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15. Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: GUEST,Guest, Laney
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 04:24 PM

"When i was in primary school we used to sing this version:

We are the _ girls,

We wear our hair in curls,

We wear our dungarees,

Up to our sexy knees,

We don't smoke or drink,

Thats what the teachers think,

And when it comes to boys,

We treat 'em like toys.

 

We used to use it as a school chant at matches and stuff, with actions and everything! Teachers didn't seem to see the funny side, but t'was fun.

 Laney"

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16. Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: GUEST,Day Camp in NJ 1950s
Date: 03 Apr 11 - 02:16 AM

"We are the Bloomer girls

We wear our hair in curls

We wear our dungarees

above our dirty knees

We wear our father's shirts

We wear our brother's ties

And when we see the boys

We make those googlie eyes

Tah rah a boom de ay

Tah rah a boom de ay

We'll steal your pants away

Tah rah a boom de ay"

****
17. Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 23 Dec 11 - 08:30 PM

"Just for the record,dungarees (jeans) were not uncommon wear for women the the late 40s, if not earlier. Slacks were definitely common in the 40s, though schools tended to frown on them."

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18. Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 24 Dec 11 - 10:58 AM

"and how did one wear dungarees to show off pretty knees? Cut0offs didn't appear until the 60s."

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19. Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: GUEST,azizi
Date: 24 Dec 11 - 11:55 AM

"Hello, dick greenhaus

You asked "how did one wear dungarees to show off pretty knees?"

Here's one way: In several examples the words are "We wear our dungarees/Rolled up above our knees." "

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20.  Subject: RE: Lyr Req: We Wear Our Hair in Curls
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Mar 13 - 07:20 PM

"I have a reference to this "song" from my small town in Michigan from about 1948. It was sung by either the high school girls Glee Club or the girls basketball team:

We are the DeWitt Girls

We wear our hair in curls

we wear our dungarees

Way up above our knees

We never smoke or drink

(That's what our mothers think)

We are the DeWitt Girls

We are the DeWitt girls"

****
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