chicagoster, Jan 13, 2012 This video was uploaded from an Android phone
****
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 mention when they chanted, read, or heard a version of that rhyme.In addition to these examples from the 1950s or from the 1960s, some of the online sources that are cited in this pancocojams compilation also include contributors' mention along with their examples from the 1970s 1980s, or 1990s. (I've not come across any online examples thus far with a time stamp from the 2000s beside for adults remembering chanting these rhymes in their childhood.) 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. -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/examples-of-theres-place-in-france.html . for the related pancocojams post "Examples Of "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars", & Similar Children's Recreational Rhymes (1970 & later)".
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
****
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.]
Lrodhubbard, 2024
"Any ideas as to when the schoolyard lyrics became attached to the tune?"
**
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."
****
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 Example #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 online of this family of rhymes that include the same or similar lines about Jewish people. I've also read an online example of these rhymes that includes a derogatory referent to Japanese people. However, no other examples of this sub-set of these rhymes are included in this compilation because they don't include any time stamps before the 1970s. Bt "time stamps" I mean 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"
**
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"
**
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:
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"
**
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.
-Unknown, June 23, 2005, https://judyperez.blogspot.com/2005/06/theres-place-called-mars.html , There's a Place Called Mars...
**
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/
**
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.
- NoMoreKarmaHere, 2024
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1hyltgs/what_are_the_origins_of_theres_a_place_in_france/
**
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"
**
8. "I LEARNED:
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.]
**
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:
"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." ".
-
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/668780/theres-a-place-in-france-where
**
10. "1960s, South Carolina, it was horribly distorted, as I
recall:
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
**
11. "1950’s, southern Ontario version
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
**
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.]
**
Reply
13. "
-John W. Kennedy, [Member], Feb. 2003
14. "
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" "
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/ "
Reply
"
-Patricia Dupes-Matsumoto, 2019,
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bratsfilm/posts/10157137311407247/ "
**
Reply
"Germany early 50’s, blast from the past!"
-Michael Bishop, 2019
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bratsfilm/posts/10157137311407247/ "
**
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."
-
**
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."
-
**
18. "My version, early 60’s:
Where the women smoke cigars,
But the men don’t care
Cause they chew their underwear."
-
**
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,
20.
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
**
21. "Listen, children. Back in the 1950s/early '60s, we sang (as
best I can remember):
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 in his head. When the roses die, they put tulips in his eye. When the
tulips die, it is 1969!" (Which was way in the future!)"
-SnooMaps9354,
****
This concludes Part III of this pancocojams series.
Visitor comments are welcome.
