Pre-1970s Examples Of "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars" & Similar Children's Recreational Rhymes

chicagoster,  Jan 13, 2012 This video was uploaded from an Android phone

Amanda and Serene... "there's a place on mars"
-snip- This YouTube video isn't meant to imply that it was filmed before the 1970s. I've included this video as a  representation of the tune for these recreational rhymes. That "Arabian riff"/snake charmer" tune for the "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars" and other similar rhymes has remained consistent over decades. I've also included this video in this post as an example of  one way that these rhymes were/are played.   This video is given without any attempt to transcript these young girl's version of the rhyme they call "There's A Place On Mars". I confess that transcription is beyond my ability and the auto-generated transcript was absolutely no help at all. However, the words to this version appear to be very similar to other "There's A Place On Mars" versions, including a snake thal was killed, the roses that were put on the snake's eyes, some mustard that is put over the eyes and that eventually fades, a referent to the King of Spades, and mention of a year that ends with the number "8". (Notice that the words "fade" and "spades" are near rhymes with the number "eight", It took me a while to realize that). The girls end their rhyme by shouting "Freeze" and making a dramatic "freeze in place" pose. And that is that - at least for their version of that rhyme.

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Edited by Azizi Powell Latest Update - January 7, 2026

This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series about the late 19th century "Streets Of Cairo" song. This series also focuses on the Hoochie Coochie dance that is mentioned in that song, and the much later children's recreational rhymes that were inspired by that song.

This post presents a small compilation of pre-1970s examples of the children's recreational rhymes "There's A Place In France", There's A Place Called Mars", "In The Land Of Oz", and other similar rhymes.

Although there are LOTS of examples of these rhymes online, only a few of the examples that I have come across include a time stamp i.e. a date that the contributors note when they chanted, read, or heard a version of that rhyme. Some of the online sources that are cited in this compilation include examples with a 1970s 1980s, or 1990s time stamp. A place stamp (the geographic location: city and/or state) where they chanted, read, or heard a version of that rhyme is usually included in these comments and in many of the other comments that are found in these online sources.

I'm most interested in archiving some examples of these rhymes before the 1990s when the internet became available to the public. I somewhat arbitrarily chose "pre-1970s" as my cut off for this compilation for these "early" examples whose contributors time stamped.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/information-about-song-streets-of-cairo.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. That post presents a YouTube sound file of the song "Streets Of Cairo" along with some online information about that song.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/two-film-clips-from-19th-century-of.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That pose showcases two late 19th century film clips of "Hoochie Coochie" dancers. That post also presents information about the Hoochie Choochie dance.

The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, and recreational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to those who are featured in this showcased video and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. .

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This particular pancocojams series on the song "Streets Of Cairo" and the rhymes "There's A Place Called France", "There's A Place Called Mars" and "In The Land Of Oz' departs from the main mission of this blog which is to provide information about and examples of African American culture and other Black cultures around the world.

Sometimes pancocojams posts focus on children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers because I'm interested in those subjects, regardless of which population originated those compositions.

That said, many of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, that I focus on in this pancocojams blog were originally composed by or adapted by African Americans or other Black people throughout the world. 

Furthermore, regardless of who originated or adapted them, it's likely that each of the examples of children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and cheers that have been published in this blog have been performed or are now being performed by some Black people throughout the world

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM A REDDIT DISCUSSION THREAD ABOUT WHEN THE "ARABIAN RIFF" THAT WAS USED FOR THE SONG "CAIRO" WAS COMBINED WITH WORDS THAT WERE PERFORMED AS CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES

[Pancocojams Editor's Note: These comments were given as #3 and #4 of Information Source #2 in Part I of this pancocojams series.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1hyltgs/what_are_the_origins_of_theres_a_place_in_france/

Lrodhubbard, 2024

"Any ideas as to when the schoolyard lyrics became attached to the tune?"

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Reply
artisticthrowaway123, 2024
"Good question. Once again, it was popularized and revived in America sometime after the 1893 Columbian World Exposition, and the subsequent popularity of European Orientalism in the late 19th-early 20th century. Once again, like most unpublished kids songs, these become folkloric adaptations over time, with oral lyrics passed from generation to generation, thus becoming quite hard to place the creation of these schoolyard lyrics on any particular date after 1893. There's also a lot of versions of the melody and lyrics.

[…]

Of course, the song has been in the public eye for a while, being part of the music score of a wide array of movies and cartoons, such as a few Mickey Mouse cartoons:

- The Opry House, 1929

-The Karnival Kid, 1929

-The Chain Gang, 1930

-Pioneer Days, 1930

As well as a lot of other media, not only in the realm of cartoons. Laurel and Hardy's 1933 movie Sons of the Desert has it playing in a belly dancer's scene. The Great Zigfried from 1936, a movie with 3 Academy Awards, not only plays the song in a scene, but the movie itself is centered on the 1893 Exposition. You can even hear the song in modern media, such as the famous 2017 videogame Cuphead, where it plays in the Pyramid Peril episode.

There are a lot of incredibly old songs that traverse through time in this particular manner. Another good example is "Greensleeves". That song had been registered in London around 380 years before the 1960 Brothers Four hit song."

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EXAMPLES OF THERE'S A PLACE IN FRANCE", THERE'S A PLACE CALLED MARS", AND SIMILAR CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES PRIOR TO THE 1970s

These examples are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. 

WARNING- Example #1, Example #8 ,and #20 below include derogatory references to Jewish people. I'm including those examples for the folkloric record. I particularly want to call attention to Example #8's 1936 date because it's the earliest date that I've found thus far for examples of these rhymes.

I've come across other examples of this rhyme that includes the same derogatory referent for Jewish people or another derogatory referent for another population (Japanese). However, they aren't included in this compilation because they don't include any time stamps i.e. the date that the contributor learned, read, or heard them.) 

1. "In Oklahoma in the 1950s it was

There's a place in France
Where the alligators dance
And the dance they do
Was invented by a Jew
And the Jew wouldn't dance
So they kicked him in the pants
And the pants he wore
Cost a dollar ninety-four
Plus tax."
-GUEST,celtaddict at the library, 11 July 2007
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 "Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives"

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2. "Hi All,

In Brooklyn, in the late 50s and very early 60s:

All the girls in France
Do the hula hula dance
And the way they shake
Is enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead
They put roses on his head
When the roses die
They put 1959.
(I recall doing this to hula-hooping)"
-GUEST, 27 July 2007, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 "Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives"

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3. "I just heard the song on a commercial for Delta faucets. Glad you guys knew the song, I was trying to find the relevence in a sexy song playing while the faucet sashayed erotically around.... Because in 1950's Florida, my mother sang:

there's a place in France
where the alligators dance.
One didn't dance,
so the shot him in the pants.

couldn't see how that was sexy enough for the commercial :)"
-GUEST, 08 June 2009, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=102055 "Folklore: Play Ground Hand Jives"

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4. …"My sister, who's work you can see on my links, learned this song in Girl Scout camp when we were kids in Maine. the song goes like this.

There's a place called Mars,

where the ladies smoke cigars.

Every puff they take

is enough to kill a snake.

When the snake is dead,

they put roses on its head.

When the roses die,

they put diamonds in their eyes.

When the diamonds break,

it will be 1968.

 

I love to hear when some one else knows this song or a close variation (not the one about france and ladies under pants). When I was in Houston I had people from all over New England, upstate New York and Pennsylvania tell me they learned this song in the early 60's. Another woman from Tennesee jumped rope to it in the late 50's. It was also known by someone in Colorado and another from Southern California from the late 50's. A woman from New jersey said she knew it with tulips and I think it ended in 1969."
-Unknown, June 23, 2005, https://judyperez.blogspot.com/2005/06/theres-place-called-mars.html , There's a Place Called Mars...

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5."In a jump rope song in Massachusetts in the 1960s or 70s, it went like this:

On the planet Mars, where the ladies smoke cigars. Every puff they take is enough to kill a snake. When the snake is dead, they put diamonds in its head. When the diamonds break, they count up to 48.

And then we counted to 48 while jumping "pepper." "
- matthewsmugmanager, 2024, 
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1hyltgs/what_are_the_origins_of_theres_a_place_in_france/

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6. "In suburban Atlanta, Georgia, 1960s we sang: There’s a place in France Where the pretty women dance. One wouldn’t dance So they shot her in the pants.

 
I’d be interested to know if anyone else heard it like this, where and when"
-  NoMoreKarmaHere, 2024
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1hyltgs/what_are_the_origins_of_theres_a_place_in_france/

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7. There's a place called France where the naked ladies dance...

There's a hole in the wall where the boys can see them all...

But the boys don't care cause they chew their underwear.

 

That's the version we sang during the 60s in our neighborhood.

-Patricia Ramirez, 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/312924925565944/posts/2539125792945835/ "Gen X:There;s A Place In France"

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8. "I LEARNED:

there's a place called france
where the naked ladies dance
there's a hole in the wall
where the men can see it all
but the men don't care
cause they're wearing underwear
and the chones that they choose
cost a dollar fifty two (2007)

MY MOM LEARNED:
there's a place called Mars
where the ladies smoke cigars
and the men don't care
so they eat their underwear (1969)

MY GRANDMA LEARNED:
there's a place in France
where the ladies wear the pants
and the dance they do
is enough to kill a Jew (in racist 1936)"
- Lopsi on June 17, 2007, http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/2005/05/a_readers_plea.html [I checked this link on January 6, 2026 to see if it was still viable and it is now given with a warning that it isn't safe to visit.]

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9. "When I was a kid in the late-60's, we all learned a ditty to the Sol Bloom "snake charmer" song. Our version was:

 "There's a place in France where the ladies wear no pants,
"And the men walk around in dirty underwear."

I have no idea if this was some commentary on French customs, but it was the version we learned. Forty years later, my eight year-old sings:

"There's a place in France where the ladies wear no pants,
"And there's a hole in the wall where the men can see it all." ".
- Mike Windsor @mwindsor [United States flag], Jun 27, 2011
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where

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10. "1960s, South Carolina, it was horribly distorted, as I recall:

 "There's a place in France where the ladies wear the pants
And the men go 'round with their (wieners) hanging down"

Granted, I wasn't yet 10 years old, and maybe some adult sanitized it for us, though not much. Also, "wiener" wasn't the local jargon for junk/johnson/package/etc. the word back then was "goobers" but then you might get confused with chocolate peanuts."
-Randy Cox @Randy Cox [United States flag], Jun 27, 2011
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where

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11. "1950’s, southern Ontario version

 
There’s a place called France

Where the ladies wear no pants

And the men wear glasses

To see their dirty asses"
-The_Flying_Dutchman [Guest], Feb 2003,https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-real-name-of-that-theres-a-place-in-france-song/155487/5

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12. "All I remember is the first two lines:

 

Oh, they don’t wear pants

On the sunny side of France.

 

That’s what I remember. Cleveland, '50s."
-panache45 [Member] February 2003, https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-real-name-of-that-theres-a-place-in-france-song/155487/5
-snip-
[Cleveland is probably Cleveland, Ohio.]

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Reply
13. "In Maine in the 50s, it was nearly that, but “on the other side of France”.
-John W. Kennedy, [Member], Feb. 2003

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14. "There's a land called Mars
Where the ladies smoke cigars
And the men come along
With a cigar ding-a-long

Rating:  Bizarre and naughty

Note:    "Here is another one I remember from the 1st grade (1962-63)"

Contributor: Michael Tanigawa http://inky.50megs.com/idlechild/songs/placeinfrance.htm "There's A Place In France" "

"Sung to: unknown (Arabian sounding tune often used in cartoons) "

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15. "For some reason, this little ditty us kids used to sing on the playground there at ol' Karlsruhe American Elementary School popped into my head from 1960....the tune is somewhat a middle eastern singsong, hence the belly dancer.

All together now:

There’s a place in France

where they do the hula dance (or naked ladies)

there’s a hole in the wall

where the man can see it all

but the men don’t care

cause they chew their underwear

And the underwear they chew

Costs a dollar ninety two.

There's a place on Mars

where the ladies smoke cigars

every puff they take

is enough to kill a snake.

When the snake is dead

you put diamonds in his head.

When the diamonds break

it's enough to bake a cake

When the cake is done

it is 1961.

In the land of Oz

Where the women wear no bras

And the men don't care

'Cause they wear no underwear

And there's a big fat genie

With an artificial weenie

So now you know

Why you shouldn't go

To the land of Oz
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/bratsfilm/posts/10157137311407247/ "Brats: Our Journey Home", August 29, 2019

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Reply  
"Orleans, the playground at La Chapelle elementary. The summer of 1955, parents and Girl Scouts waiting for the buses that would take us to camp in Germany. Buses are late, so we started playing and singing our usual playground chants to hopscotch or jump rope games or other active games. This was one of the songs we sang followed by, "Shake 'em, shake 'em if you can". I guess our parents hadn't heard some of these or realized that our ringleader was the chaplain's daughter. My mom laughed about it for years."
-Patricia Dupes-Matsumoto, 2019, 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bratsfilm/posts/10157137311407247/ "Brats: Our Journey Home", August 29, 2019

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Reply
"Germany early 50’s, blast from the past!"
-Michael Bishop, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bratsfilm/posts/10157137311407247/ "Brats: Our Journey Home", August 29, 2019

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16. The one version I recall (from the early 1960s) that hasn’t been cited yet was:

 

All the girls in France

Wear tissue-paper pants,

But the boys don’t care,

'Cause they’re guaranteed to tear."
-Sam_A.Robrin [Guest], Sep 2010, https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/66

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17. "I am joining this “conversation” a few years late & I also must have sung this song many years before all of you did. When I was a kid & sang the song we sang:

All the girls in France

Do the hula hula dance

And the way they shake it’s enough to kill a snake

 

When the snake is dead they put diamonds in its’ head

When the diamonds are gone they put rubies in its’ eyes

When the rubies are gone it is 1969!

Thus you know can extrapolate this song was around since at least the early 1960’s."
-StivittheBlivit [Guest], Dec 2011, https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304/66

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18. "My version, early 60’s:

 There’s a place called Mars

Where the women smoke cigars,

But the men don’t care

Cause they chew their underwear."
-maladroit [Guest], https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-land-of-mars-where-the-ladies-smoke-cigars/552700

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19. "SE Wisconsin late 60’s

 

There’s a place in France

Where the women wear no pants

But the men don’t care

‘Cause they’re all running bare!"
-pkbites [Charter member[, Dec. 2021,  https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-land-of-mars-where-the-ladies-smoke-cigars/552700

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20. We sang it thusly in the early '60s:

 

There’s a place in France

Where the ladies do a dance,

And the dance they do

Is enough to kill a Jew,

And the Jew they kill

Is enough to take a pill.

And the pill they take

Is enough to fry a snake.

And the snake they fry

Is enough to tell a lie.

And the lie they tell

Is enough to go to

Don da-da-don-don, don-don!

 

(The last line, of course, is to “Shave and a haircut”.)

 

I think “They say that in the Army…” was more popular, though."
-SCAdian, Sept. 2022,  https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-land-of-mars-where-the-ladies-smoke-cigars/552700

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This concludes Part III of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.