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Showing posts with label African American children's rhyme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African American children's rhyme. Show all posts

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Birmingham Jubilee Singers - "Sweet Mama, Tree Top Tall" (an early 20th century "Blues" song)



CanadianFolkBlues, Published on Jun 6, 2012


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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the song "Sweet Mama Tree Top Tall" by the Birmingham Jubilee Singers. Information about the Birmingham Jubilee Singers is included in this post.

This post also includes definitions of the word "jubilee" and information about the referent "Jubilee singers" as it applies to African American religious and secular singers.

Lyrics to the Birmingham Jubilee Singers' version of "Sweet Mama Tree Top Tall" are also included in this post along with my comments about the meanings of three African American Vernacular English expressions that are found in this song: "tree top tall", "turn your damper down" and "don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree".

This pancocojams post also includes an example of an African American children's rhyme that includes those lines from that song which have become a "floating verse" (i.e. words/lyrics that appear in other songs/rhymes regardless of their genre). 

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Birmingham Jubilee Singers for their musical legacy. Thanks also to those quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
-snip-
This post is largely a reprint of a pancocojams post that was published in 2013. . That 2013 post had been updated at least once in 2013.

There are no comments in the discussion thread for that YouTube sound file or for that 2013 pancocojams post.

Information about the word "Jubilee" is added to this 2025 post along with information about the Fisk Jubilee Singers, particularly regarding the fact that while Jubilee singing groups mostly performed religious music (African American Spirituals), they also performed non-religious music which can be classified as Blues.
-snip-
I'm reprinting this post (with additions) on Mother's Day 2025. Happy mother's Day to all those people regardless of their gender who have "mothered" or are "mothering" other people and/or "fur babies".


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WHAT THE WORD "JUBILEE" MEANS IN THE NAME OF THIS MUSIC GROUP AND OTHER BLACK AMERICAN MUSIC GROUPS 
The word "Jubilee" in the name of the music group "Birmingham Jubilee Singers" follows the naming custom of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Here's some information about that group from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisk_Jubilee_Singers
"The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some songs by Stephen Foster. The original group toured along the Underground Railroad path in the United States, as well as performing in Europe. Later 19th-century groups also toured in Europe.

[…]

History
….[The music group’s name is] “in memory of the Jewish year of Jubilee."[2] This was a reference to Jubilee described in the book of Leviticus in the Bible. Each fiftieth Pentecost was followed by a "year of jubilee" in which all slaves would be set free.[3] Since most of the students at Fisk University and their families were newly freed slaves,[5] the name "Jubilee Singers" seemed fitting.

The Jubilee Singers' performances were a departure from the familiar "black minstrel" genre of white musicians performing in blackface. One early review of the group's performance was headlined "Negro Minstrelsy in Church--Novel Religious Exercise," while further reviews highlighted the fact that this group of Negro minstrels were, oddly enough, "genuine negroes."[6] "Those who have only heard the burnt cork caricatures of negro minstrelsy have not the slightest conception of what it really is," Doug Seroff quotes one review of a concert by the group as saying.[7] This was not a uniquely American response to the group's performance, but was typical in audience receptions in Europe as well: "From the first the Jubilee music was more or less of a puzzle to the critics; and even among those who sympathised with their mission there was no little difference of opinion as to the artistic merit of their entertainments. Some could not understand the reason for enjoying so thoroughly as almost everyone did these simple unpretending songs."[8]

…The original Jubilee Singers introduced slave songs to the world in 1871 and were instrumental in preserving this unique American musical tradition known today as Negro spirituals. They influenced many other troupes of jubilee singers who would go on to make their own contributions to the genre,"...
-snip-
"Negro" is an outdated referent for African Americans (Black Americans) since the 1960s. Although it was the custom for mainstream America to spelling the referent "Negro" with a lower case "n", that population protested that practice because it was offensive given the fact that the spelling for referents for all other races began with an upper case letter. That referent is sometimes informally used by African Americans (Black Americans) as a put down of a person from that population who is behaving in ways that are obsequious toward White people and/or in ways that ae against the well being of Black people (i.e. "acting like an Uncle Tom")
-snip-
Here's a sentence from AI (Google results May 11, 2025) that apparently refers to other African American Jubilee music groups such as the Birmingham singers" 
. .."While known for their spirituals, the group's [Fisk Jubilee Singers] performances and the spirituals themselves became a foundation for the development of blues, gospel, jazz, country, and rock music."

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE BIRMINGHAM JUBILEE SINGERS
From http://www.last.fm/music/Birmingham+Jubilee+Singers
"The Birmingham Jubilee Singers were an American gospel quartet from Birmingham, Alabama.

They were put together in 1926 by Charles Bridges, a native of Birmingham suburb Pratt City, who studied voice at his high school and sang with the Dolomite Jubilee Singers after graduating....

The group became Alabama’s first professional quartet when in 1926 they were discovered by a Columbia Records talent scout, and travelled from Jefferson County to record in Atlanta. They achieved nationwide popularity through their live radio broadcasts over WAPI, WVRC and WJLD.

Becoming one of Columbia’s most prolific black vocal groups, they played vaudeville stages in New York and Chicago with the likes of Ethel Waters. They played a mix of both gospel songs and secular material, performing on gospel and vaudeville stages alike.

The group disbanded in the 1930s when Dave Ausbrooks died. Their complete recorded works were reissued on two compact discs in 1995 by the Document Records label."
-snip-
Italics added to highlight this sentence which refers to the types of music that this group sang. In the mid 20th century to date (2025) African American Gospel groups don't record Blues music or almost any other type of secular (non-religious) music 

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LYRICS - SWEET MAMA TREE TOP TALL
(As sung by the Birmingham Jubilee Singers on "Birmingham Jubilee Singers: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order: Volume 1: 1926 – 1927" (Document Records, DOCD-5345):

1. Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
I smell your bread cookin', honey. Done got good an' brown.
I'm goin' away sweet mama just worry you off my mind,
'Cause you keep us both worried 'bout the baby all the time.
Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.

2. Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
I smell your bread cookin', honey. Done got good an' brown.
I just got a letter from a gal in Rome.
Says she got plenty money, gonna bring it home.
Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.

3. Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
I smell your bread cookin', honey. Done got good an' brown.
I've got a gal in Georgia, two in Tennessee.
Got three in Alabama good enough for me.
Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.

4. Hey beauty, wake up honey, I know you heard the whistle blow.
You got a few more minutes to get your clothes on; then you have to go.
Your hands are already rough and your feet are long.
... can't see what'n the world you're waitin' on.
Hey beauty, wake up honey, I know you heard the whistle blow.

5. Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
I smell your bread cookin', honey. Done got good an' brown.
I'm standing on the corner with my hat in my han',
... waitin' for the woman ain't got no man.
Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.

6. Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
I smell your bread cookin', honey. Done got good an' brown.
If you don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree.
... let my peaches be.
Sweet mama, treetop tall, baby, turn your damper down.
(I said) Baby, turn your damper down.
-snip-
Hat tip to Jim Dixon and Arkansas Red for this transcription.
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=24332&messages=22 "Lyr Req: Sweet Mama Tree-Top Tall (Lasses White)"

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EXPLANATION OF THE TERM "TREE TOP TALL"
"Tree top tall" is a referent for a very tall person

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[Update 11/7/2013]

EXPLANATIONS OF THE TERM "TURN YOUR DAMPER DOWN"
"Turn your damper down"
Here's an explanation of "turn your damper down" from
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=24332&messages=22
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sweet Mama Tree-Top Tall (Lasses White)
From:GUEST,Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour
Date: 03 Jun 13 - 01:29 PM

"From what I understand "turning a damper down" in cooking with a wood stove means to reduce the heat. So the double entendre in this song probably refers to "sweet mama" having "the hots" for other men, and spreading it around, so she is advised to keep her damper turned down and "make it hot" for her man only. This I was told by an [sic] black blues singer who probably knew more double entendres in songs than anybody. Blues are filled with double entendres. That's what makes the blues so great."
-snip-
Here's another opinion about what "turn your damper down" from that same discussion thread:

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sweet Mama Tree-Top Tall
From:GUEST,Arkie
Date: 22 Jul 05 - 10:23 AM

Having grown up in a farm house heated by a woodstove with a damper in the stovepipe, I've always taken the phrase to mean "calm down" or "don't be so intense". The phrase was sometimes used in conversation when someone had become a little overheated or excited. While I suspect that some may have conjured up sexual imagery from the phrase, in my own experience it was related to a volatile temper.
-snip-
In my opinion, that non-sexual meaning is more accurate for this Blues song. Here's another non-sexual example of "turning your damper down" that I shared on that discussion thread in 21 Jul 05 -11:19 PM

from an article about Bessie Smith*:

"Her relationships with other female singers were often stormy. Bessie did agree to record with rival, Clara Smith (no relation) a few songs of which My Man Blues portrays the two in mock competition over the same man. The following dialogue comes from that 1925 recording.22

(Bessie:) It is my man, sweet papa Charlie Gray.
(Clara:) Your man? How do you git that way?
(Bessie:) Now look here, honey, I been had that man for umpteen year.
(Clara.) Child, didn't I turn your damper down?
(Bessie.) Yes, Clara, and I've cut you every way but loose!"

*A hyperlink was given to this article, but the link is no longer active.

Here's information about wood burning stove dampers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood-burning_stove
"Keeping the air flowing correctly through a wood-burning stove is essential for safe and efficient operation of the stove. Fresh air needs to enter the wood compartment to provide oxygen fuel for the fire; as the fire burns, the smoke must be allowed to rise through the stove pipes, and exit through the chimney. To regulate air flow, there are damper devices built into the stove, flue, and stove pipes...

By opening or closing the dampers, air flow can be increased or decreased, which can fan the fire in the wood compartment, or "dampen" it by restricting airflow and reducing the flames.”
-snip-
I think that "turn your lamp down low" (in Blues songs) is a closely related expression to "turn your damper down".

Here's information about turning the flame of a kerosene lamp down low from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_lamp
"The kerosene lamp (widely known in Britain as a paraffin lamp) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene (British "paraffin", as distinct from paraffin wax) as a fuel...

Lighting a flat-wick lamp requires filling the fuel tank (fount) with fuel and allowing time for the wick to absorb the fuel. The wick is trimmed straight across with a pair of sharp scissors before lighting. With the glass chimney lifted off the lamp, the wick is turned up and lighted with a match or other lighter. The wick is turned down if smoke develops, and the lamp chimney lowered. After a few minutes warm-up the lamp can be turned to full brightness. Extinguishing the lamp is done by turning down the wick and blowing out the flame, or by turning the wick down below the top of the wick tube."

So, to conclude, I believe that "turn your damper down" and "turn your lamp down low"] mean "to reduce the heat you are emitting" - to "cool out" and not be "heated", "hot", "hot and bothered" or "enflamed" by someone or about something. Another of saying this is "to cease being or refrain from being irritated or angry at someone or about something."

However, at the same time or separately, both of those expressions may also have the sexual meaning whose explanation s given above.

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[Update 11/7/2013]

EXPLANATIONS OF THE TERM "IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY PEACHES, DON'T SHAKE MY TREE
If you don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree.
... let my peaches be" is a floating verse that is found in a number of Blues songs & other songs. "Peaches" in those Blues songs had a sexual meaning" and that line means the same thing as "If you don't like me, don't come around me looking for just sex."

This verse is also found as a taunting line in a few contemporary American children's playground rhymes and children's cheer leader cheers where it's usually given as "if you don't like my apples, don't shake my tree".

I think that most of these taunting rhymes/cheers originated with African Americans although they were/are also recited by non-African Americans. Here's one example that I cited in this discussion thread on the "don't like my apples don't shake my tree" expression http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=123813

I'll BE

I'll be. be
Walking down the street,
Ten times a week.
Un-gawa. Un-gawa {baby}
This is my power.
What is the story?
What is the strike?
I said it, I meant it.
I really represent it.
Take a cool cool Black to knock me down.
Take a cool cool Black to knock me out.
I'm sweet, I'm kind.
I'm soul sister number nine.
Don't like my apples,
Don't shake my tree.
I'm a Castle Square Black
Don't mess with me.

Source: John Langstaff, Carol Langstaff, Shimmy Shimmy Coke-Ca-Pop!, A Collection of City Children's Street Games & Rhymes {Garden City, New York, Double Day & Co; p. 57; 1973)

That line's inclusion in children's cheerleader cheers is undoubtedly lifted from its use in Blues songs and/or songs from other genres, although few children reciting that line know or care about the source for that line.

The main non-sexual meaning of the "if you don't like my peaches [apples], don't shake my tree" expression is "If you don't like me, leave me alone."

The referent "Castle Square Black" probably refers to a Black person who lives in a certain neighborhood or in a certain housing project that is named "Castle Square". ("The projects" is a term that has been used in the United States since the 1950s to refer to government subsidized housing with low rents).  

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Tuesday, April 4, 2023

"Doctor Knickerbocker Number 9" Rhymes & How The Word "Knickerbocker" & Its Shortened Form "Knicks" Are Connected To New York City


The Wiggles, Mar 11, 2023  #TheWiggles #counting

Join Tsehay, John, Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog as they sing and dance along to 'Doctor Knickerbocker'!

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - April 5, 2023

This pancocojams post showcases two YouTube video of the children's rhyme "Dr. Knickerbocker" (also given as "Dr. Knickerbocker Number Nine".

This post also presents two versions of the lyrics to this children's rhyme as well as information about the history of the word "knickerbocker".

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composer/s of this children's rhyme. Thanks to the publisher of these videos on YouTube, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Dr. Knickerbocker/Tic-Tac (medley)



Various Artists-Topic,
May 30, 2015

INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORD "KNICKERBOCKER" AND HOW ITS CONNECTED TO NEW YORK CITY
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diedrich_Knickerbocker#:~:text=Diedrich%20Knickerbocker%20is%20an%20
"Diedrich Knickerbocker is an American literary character who originated from Washington Irving's first novel, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809). He is a Dutch-American historian who is dressed in a specific type of baggy-kneed trousers referred to as knickerbockers, later shortened to knickers. The word knickerbocker is also used to refer to people who live in Manhattan,[1] and was adopted in a shortened form as the Knicks by the city's NBA professional basketball team.

History

In 1809 Washington Irving wrote his first novel, A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. It was a satire of the politics of the day and history books. To promote the book he started a hoax by contacting various newspapers in New York City that "well-known Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker had disappeared from his hotel". Irving informed people that if Mr. Knickerbocker remained absent he would publish a manuscript that the man had left behind. Many people at the time believed the story and when Irving finally revealed it was all made up he gained enough local fame to help his book become an instant success, practically launching his literary career.[2]

One of Irving's friends was actually named Knickerbocker: Herman Knickerbocker (1779–1855). Herman Knickerbocker, in turn, was of the upstate Knickerbocker clan, which descended from a single immigrant ancestor, Harmen Jansen van Wijhe Knickerbocker. Jansen van Wijhe invented the name upon arriving in New Amsterdam and signed a document with a variant of it in 1682.

In popular culture

Father Knickerbocker punches out the Tammany Tiger, Puck 1901.

In the 19th century a literary group was named after the character: Knickerbocker Group, who also had their own magazine, The Knickerbocker (1833–1865).[3] In the first and second issue Knickerbocker gave a supposed interview.[4][5]

The name "knickerbocker" has become a popular nickname for people who reside in Manhattan.[6] It also inspired the name of a type of baggy-kneed trousers for boys: knickerbockers. The New York basketball team New York Knickerbockers (more commonly known as the Knicks) also derived their name from this character.[7] It also inspired a beer brand by Jacob Ruppert, the first sponsors of the TV show Tonight!.[8]

Igor Cassini, a gossip columnist, used the name "Cholly Knickerbocker" as his pseudonym.

"Father Knickerbocker" served the role of civic personification of New York City in the illustrated Daily Graphic newspaper, Puck magazine, and elsewhere. In May 1949, city official James J. O’Brien toured the globe dressed as Father Knickerbocker on behalf of the New York World Trade Week Committee."
-snip-
This Wikipedia page doesn’t mention the children’s rhyme “Dr. Knickerbocker”.

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Excerpt #2
From https://math.answers.com/other-math/What_is_the_origin_of_dr_knickerbocker_number_nine
"What is the origin of dr knickerbocker number nine?

THE NAME ...

The term "Knickerbockers" traces its origin back to the Dutch settlers who came to the New World -- and especially to what is now New York -- in the 1600s. Specifically, it refers to the style of pants the settlers wore ... pants that rolled up just below the knee, which became known as "Knickerbockers," or "knickers".

Through history, the Dutch settler "Knickerbocker" character became synonymous with New York City. The city's most popular symbol of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was "Father Knickerbocker," complete with cotton wig, three-cornered hat, buckled shoes, and, of course, knickered pants.

The Knickerbocker name had its first use in the world of sports in 1845, when Alexander Cartwright's Manhattan-based Baseball team -- the first organized team in baseball history -- was named the "New York Knickerbockers" or the "Knickerbocker Nine." The Knickerbocker name stayed with the team even after it moved its base of operations to Elysian Fields at Hoboken, N.J. in 1846. (The baseball link may have prompted Casey Stengel to joyously exclaim, "It's great to be back as the manager of the Knickerbockers!" when he was named pilot of the newborn Mets in 1961.)

Thus, the Knickerbocker name was an integral part of the New York scene when the Basketball Association of America granted a charter franchise to the city in the summer of 1946. As can best be determined, the final decision to call the team the "Knickerbockers" was made by the club's founder, the legendary Ned Irish.

"The name came out of a hat," recalled Fred Podesta, the longtime Garden executive who passed away at age 86 in 1999. "We were all sitting in the office one day -- Irish, (public relations director) Lester Scott and a few others on the staff. We each put a name in the hat, and when we pulled them out, most of them said Knickerbockers, after Father Knickerbocker, the symbol of New York City. It soon was shortened to Knicks." 

In keeping with another New York tradition, the team's colors have always (except for the years from 1980-81 through 1982-83) been orange, blue and white. . .the official colors of New York City."

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Excerpt #3
From https://academic.oup.com/book/40025/chapter-abstract/340389396?redirectedFrom=fulltext  Prankery, Ralph Keyes, https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190466763.003.0005
Pages 52–66, Published: May 2021
"Abstract

The history of word-coining is rich with cases of neologisms created as part of pranks that went on to become part of our lexicon. The surname of Washington Irving’s faux historian of New York, Diedrich Knickerbocker, inspired a nickname for New Yorkers, and, shortened, to a type of underwear: knickers.

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THREE LYRIC VERSIONS OF THE CHILDREN'S RHYME "DR. KNICKERBOCKER"
These versions of these lyrics are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

Version #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsn7AwFbWOo [These lyrics are in the summary for the video that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]

Doctor Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker, number nine
He likes to dance and keep in time
Now let's get the rhythm of the feet
Now we've got the rhythm of the feet
Now let's get the rhythm of the number nine
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!

Doctor Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker, number nine
He likes to dance and he keeps in time
Now let's get the rhythm of the hips
Now we've got the rhythm of the hips
Now let's get the rhythm of the feet
Now we've got the rhythm of the feet
Now let's get the rhythm of the number nine
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!

Doctor Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker, number nine
He likes to dance and he keeps in time
Now let's get the rhythm of the hands
Now we've got the rhythm of the hands
Now let's get the rhythm of the hips
Now we've got the rhythm of the hips
Now let's get the rhythm of the feet
Now we've got the rhythm of the feet
Let's get the rhythm of the number nine
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!

Doctor Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker, number nine
He likes to dance and he keeps in time
Now let's get the rhythm of the head
Now we've got the rhythm of the head
Now let's get the rhythm of the hands
Now we've got the rhythm of the hands
Now let's get the rhythm of the hips
Now we've got the rhythm of the hips
Now let's get the rhythm of the feet
Now we've got the rhythm of the feet
Now let's get the rhythm of the number nine
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!

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Version #2
Doctor [extend the beginning of the word "doctor")
Knickerbocker, Knickerbocker 1, 2, 3
Now let's get the rhythm of the hands 
Now you got the rhythm of the hands 
[Continue that same pattern for feet, shoulders, eyes]
Now let's gett he rhythm of the hips (whoo-ooh!)
Now you got the rhythm of the hips (whoo-ooh!) 

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Version #3
From https://childrenlovetosing.com/kids-action-song/doctor-knicker-bocker/

Leader: Doctor Knickerbocker,

Knickerbocker number nine.
Well, I just got back and I'm feeling fine.*
Now let's get the rhythm of the hands.

Group: Now we've got the rhythm of the hands.

Leader:Now let's get the rhythm of the feet.

Group: Now we've got the rhythm of the feet.

Leader: Now let's get the rhythm of the head.

Group: Now we've got the rhythm of the head.

Leader: Now let's get the rhythm of the hips.

Group: Now we've got the rhythm of the hips.

Leader: Now let's get the rhythm of the number nine.

Group: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!
-snip-
* This line is sometimes given "He just got back and he's feeling fine". 


"Dr. Knickerbocker" is also chanted in unison.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
I don't recall chanting "Dr. Knickerbocker" as a child and I haven't seen or heard any version of that rhyme during my direct rhyme collection activities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The earliest online version of "Dr. Knickerbocker" rhyme that I've come across is from 1973 (showcase video #2). That version is from the Gullah people of South Carolina. Because of its geographic isolation, a large number of African American folk songs (including children's recreational rhymes) come from the Gullah people.

All of the examples of "Dr. Knickerbocker" that I've happened upon have the same or similar textual structure and lyrics. I haven't found any examples of Dr. Knickerbocker" being combined with other rhymes.

The YouTube example of "Dr. Knickerbocker" that is given as showcase video #2 in this pancocojams post has the sound of hand clapping with children chanting. I think it's likely that group or partner handclapping was the accompaniment that was typically performed with early versions of "Dr. Knickerbocker".  In all the YouTube video versions of Dr. Knickerbocker, people chant this rhyme while doing dance motions.

The children's recreational rhyme "Down Down Baby" includes the lyrics "Let's get the rhythm of the hands" etc. that are found in "Dr. Knickerbocker". Judging from its online presence, "Down Down Baby" is MUCH more widely known than "Dr. Knickerbocker" in the United States. Since the 1960s, "Down Down Baby" rhymes have been performed as two person or group hand clap rhymes. Since at least 1960, partner or group hand clapping routines are usually performed while chanting "Down Down Baby".

Click 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-FpmUUc7U for a YouTube video of a Sesame Street clip of Black girls playing "Down Down Baby". 

Some "Down Down Baby" rhymes are also combined with certain other recreational children's rhymes. I sub-set of "Down Down Baby" rhymes are often combined with versions of "I Like Coffee I Like Tea" rhymes. 


I'm curious which came first, "Dr. Knickerbocker" rhymes or "Down Down Baby rhymes"?

Please share any information and examples that you know about early examples of both of these rhymes. Thanks!


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