Information About The Song "Streets Of Cairo" Which Is Considered To Be The Inspirattion For The Children's Recreational Rhymes "There's A Place In France", "There's A Place Called Mars" Etc.

"Streets of Cairo" - Dan W. Quinn (November 3, 1895)

 Samuel Stokes, Jul 27, 2013

"This is the original 1895 recording of the song "The Streets of Cairo or the Poor Little Country Maid" by Sol Bloom and James Thornton. The music and lyrics are all in the public domain. I recently learned that Sony is in possession of the rights for this recording. This YouTube posting has a slight speed adjustment from the previously posted version. After I sent the recording I found to Barrett Hansen (aka Dr. Demento) he noted that the speed sounded fast. He adjusted it by ear until he found what sounded most natural. The recording as I had sent it to him was in F#m, but he informed me that old Berliner records were often recorded at a lower speed. After he adjusted it, the pitch was now in Em. Not only does it sound much more natural, but it agrees with the original published sheet music (which was printed in E minor) and it brings the song into a better range for a baritone voice (as Quinn is often described as a baritone). Dan W. Quinn recorded this song on at least these two occasions: Berliner 171-Z, 11/3/1895. Breliner 171-ns 4/17/1896 (Philadelphia) This is the first, recorded on November 3, 1895"... **** Edited by Azizi Powell Latest revision - January 6, 2026 This is Part I 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 pancocojams 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.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/pre-1970s-examples-of-theres-place-in.html for Part III of this pancocojams series. That post presents a 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.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners. Thanks to the composers of the "Streets of Cairo" song and thanks to all those who featured in these showcase videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishes of these videos on YouTube. **** 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.  ONLINE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "STREETS OF CAIRO" ONLINE INFORMATION #1 From https://www.samuelstokesmusic.com/cairo.html The Streets of Cairo or The Poor Little Country Maid

"Lyrics

I will sing you a song, and it won't be very long

'Bout a maiden sweet, and she never would do wrong.

Ev'ryone said she was pretty. she was not long in the city.

All alone, oh, what a pity, poor little maid.

 

She never saw the streets of Cairo.

On the Midway she had never strayed;

She never saw the kutchy-kutchy,

Poor little country maid.

 

She went out one night, did this innocent divine,

With a nice young man who invited her to dine.

Now he's sorry that he met her, and he never will forget her,

In the future he'll know better, poor little maid.

 

She never saw the streets of Cairo.

On the Midway she had never strayed;

She never saw the kutchy-kutchy,

Poor little country maid.

 

She was engaged as a picture for to pose,

To appear each night in abbreviated clothes.

All the dudes were in a flurry, for to catch her they did hurry,

One who caught her now is sorry, poor little maid.

 

She was much fairer far than Trilby,

Lots of more men sorry will be,

If they don't try to keep away from

This poor little country maid.

Research

I have been researching the origin and musical symbolic meaning of the Cairo melody, which is often used as a cliche to signify the Middle East, or more broadly, anything considered exotic. It is also known as the snake-charmers song or "There's a Place in France..." The melody was used at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago for an exhibition called "Street in Cairo," where a dancer called Little Egypt danced the infamous kutchy-kutchy (or hutchy-kutchy). I have been informed that the lady depicted in the video above is not the original Little Egypt but a later imitator, as there were many other dancers that used the name, capitalizing on the popularity of the original. Sol Bloom claims to have composed the melody, although there is some evidence that it may have originally come from a folk tune.

In 1895, James Thornton wrote "The Streets of Cairo or The Poor Little Country Maid," which uses the hutchy-kuthcy melody for the verses, with a chorus in the relative major key. …

A large number of popular songs have borrowed the hutchy-kutchy melody including Steve Martin's "King Tut" and "Istanbul not Constantinople" by Four Lads and They Might be Giants. More information on the history of the borrowing of this melody can be found in the Wikipedia article about the Arabian Riff.

Parody lyrics of this tune are quite prominent. I personally remember learning some on the school playground in the 1980s. My belief is that different versions of these parody lyrics may go all the way back to the time of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. After all, this melody was playing over and over at the Street in Cairo exhibit, which was right next to the fair's biggest attraction - the world's first Ferris Wheel. Millions of people from all over the world rode the wheel, which explains why this song is so ubiquitous, yet few people know what it is called. So far, I have traced parody lyrics as far back as 1934."...

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ONLINE INFORMATION #2

[Numbers added for referencing purposes only]

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

1. Indecisivesloth, 2024
"What are the origins of "There's a place in France where the naked ladies dance" school yard song?

We all seem to know this song, what are its origins?"

 
**
Reply
2. artisticthrowaway123, 2024
"Very interesting question indeed.

The song, (or melody, rather) is well known as the Arabian riff, or "The Streets of Cairo". Musically speaking, it's an incredibly simple ascending/descending progression (Do Re Me Re Do, Do Re Me Sol Re Me Do)

The origins of this song are widely debated amongst music folklorists.

For instance, Jean-Baptiste Arban, in his book "Arban's Complete Conservatory Method for Trumpet" written in 1864, he lists hundreds of musical exercises, used for various brass instruments. These exercises are based on simple to advanced compositions from different regions from the world, and included is a certain "Arabian Song", in which the first 5 notes is a part of the famous "Arabian Riff".

Interestingly enough, those notes are commonly attributed to an even older French song, titled "Colin Prend Sa Hotte", which was published in 1704 by the famous Parisian music publisher Christophe Ballard, in his book "Brunetes ou petits airs tendres, avec les doubles, et la basse-continue, meslées de chansons a danser. Recüeillies & mises en ordre par Christophe Ballard, seul Imprimeur de Musique, & Noteur de la Chapelle du Roy. Tome second." In fact, one of the earliest written versions of the Arabian riff came from Franz Hunten, a German composer, who published an alternative version of Ballard's song in 1845, under the name "Melodie Arabe".

On the other hand, French composer Jean-Baptiste Weckerlin wrote in 1857 in his book "La Chanson Populaire" that he believed "Colin Prend Sa Hotte" to be actually a direct descendant from an Algerian or Moorish song called Kradoutja, which had been fairly well known in France since at least 1600. William Benzon, in his 2002 book titled "Beethoven's Anvil: Music in Mind and Culture", theorizes it might even have been a Middle Eastern song that could have came from either Moorish Spain or a Crusader State. Unfortunately, the original Kradoutja has been lost to time.

What largely popularized the melody, however, was the entertainment director of the 1893 World's Fair Exposition of Chicago, Sol Bloom. The fair had an attraction titled "Little Egypt", which featured snake charmers, camel rides and the like. James Thornton, a songwriter of the time, composed the new melody, and titled it "Streets of Cairo", which is the name it's currently most known for. It was recorded not long after that."

**
Reply
3. Lrodhubbard, 2024
"Any ideas as to when the schoolyard lyrics became attached to the tune?"

**
Reply
4. 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."

**
5.Technical Molasses23, 2024
"Your answer is great. Minor correction: the movie is the Great Ziegfeld."

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ONLINE INFORMATION #3

"AI Overview

"The Streets of Cairo" (or "Arabian riff") refers to a popular 19th-century melody, famously used for the "Hoochy Coochy" dance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, often associated with snake charmers and featuring lyrics about a "Poor Little Country Maid," with its roots potentially tracing back to French soldiers in Algeria and Arabic songs. It's a well-known tune in American culture, appearing in many other songs and media, though it's considered by some to be an example of cultural appropriation.

Key Aspects

Melody: A distinctive, catchy tune known as the "Arabian riff," also called "The Snake Charmer Song".

Origin: Popularized by showman Sol Bloom at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, linked to dancers like "Little Egypt".

Lyrics: The most famous lyrics, written by James Thornton in 1895, tell a story of a young woman lured by a snake charmer, as in "The Streets of Cairo, or The Poor Little Country Maid".

Cultural Impact: Became a staple in American entertainment, used in various cartoons and songs, despite its controversial origins and themes of cultural appropriation."

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Visitor comments are welcome. 

Examples Of Children's Recreational Rhymes That Mention The Hoochie Coochie Dance

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the Hoochie Coochie Dance.

This presents some examples of English language children's recreational rhymes that include a reference to the "Hoochie Coochie dance".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-history-of-hoochie-coochie-dance.html  for Part I of this pancocojams series, That post showcases a 19th century film clip of what is now called "the Hoochie Coochie dance". 

That post also presents a long excerpt from a 2016 blog post written by Peter Jensen Brown. Peter Jensen Brown's blog post presents some history about what is now called "the Hoochie Coochie dance". I'm particularly interested in portions of that blog post that provides information about early forms of that dance name and portions of that post that provides information about and lyrics for the African American song "The Ham Fat Man".

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

****

SOME EXAMPLES OF CHILDREN'S RECREATIONAL RHYMES THAT MENTION THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE DANCE

These examples are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only. These numbers don't necessarily coincide with the comments order in their discussion threads.

I've given the line that refers to the hoochie coochie dance in italics for highlighting purposes only. 
I haven't added any editorial comments about these selected examples.

Source #1 
From https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance/213304

1. Eve, Guest, Nov'03
"Thanks to those wonderful old-music sites from a recent thread, I have been listening to a lot of pop tunes, c1910–30. One musical leitmotif that recurs frequently is the “Little Egypt” music, which I sang as a child as,

“All the girls in France Do the hoochie-coochie dance,
And the way they shake, it could really kill a snake.
When the snake is dead, they will tie it 'round their head . . .”

Now, that can’t be right. I mean the lyircs, I don’t mean the entire female population of France hoochie-coochie-ing with dead snakes tied around their heads. I have never been to France, but I trust that is not the state of affairs there.

What are the lyrics to this ditty you heard as a tot?"

**
Source #2
From http://www.sciforums.com/threads/all-the-girls-in-france-do-the-hoochie-coochie-dance.30610/
1. rb962, Jun 16, 2013
"I remember this song as a kid. we would jump rope or something else to the words. i didnt realize there were so many variations!

all the girls in france
do the hoochie coochie dance
every move they make
is enough to kill a snake
when the snake is dead
they put roses round its head
when the roses die
they put diamonds in his eyes
when the diamonds break
it is 1968!

i have seen some alternate lyrics on various site that were more crude or racists, but this is the one i recall"

**
2. Cheerful2mara, Aug 4, 2019
"This is the song I learned in, I believe, 1964-65.

All the girls in France
Do the hoochie coochie dance.
You should see them shake, it’s enough to kill a snake.
When the snake is dead
You put roses by its head.
When the roses die
You put tulips by its side.
When the tulips die
It is 1895.

Years later, probably in my late 20’s, I sang this to my grandmother, who was born in 1894. She started laughing, and told me that when she was a child, she sang very similar lyrics to the identical tune. When she sang her version to me, which I wish I could remember in its entirety, the last line was, “It is 1825!”

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Source #3
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=2794 Subject: RE: Naughty kids'greatest hits;  Alice C. (of Cleveland) - PM, 24 Sep 97 - 10:18 PM
"Hi there--and especially to Jerry ___ who does indeed remember the same local versions as I do! How delightful. I was at Fairfax Elementary 1971-76. And you?

Hey, does anyone else remember this playground taunt -- let's say you want to embarass two other kids named Richard and Kathy:

Kathy loves Richard,
Sittin' in the tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
First comes love,
Then comes marriage,
Then comes Kathy with the baby carriage!
Suckin' her thumb,
Chewin' her pants,
Doin' the hootchy-kootchy dance!

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Source #4
From https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=56361 Folklore: Skipping Rhymes & Playground Games, Neighmond,  03 Feb 03 - 01:57 AM
"I used to spend recesses against the wall for jumping out of the swings in mid-air, and playing tag on the tornado slide, and the girls jumped the rope on the wide walkway there. Here are a few that I recall hearing, but the words may be out of order, as this was a while ago.

Apples on a stick, make me sick(slick?).
make my arms (heart?) go two-four-six!
It's not because i'm dirty
It's not because i'm clean
It's not because I kiss the boys
behind a magazene (behind a _____ machine?)
Hey girls, let's have fun!
Here comes a cop with his (vest?) undone!
He can shammey he can shake
He can do the hoochie-koo
But I bet a dollar he can't catch you!
One, two, three, etc.....

Chanted to a double jumprope, I heard this on the schoolyard in Spirit Lake, Iowa around 1982-5. The count continued untill the jumproper missed a lick."

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Source #5
Google Books: Weep Not, My Wanton: Stories & Poems by Maggie Dubris ; David R. Godine Publisher, 2002
"Hi, Roy Rogers how about a date
Meet me on the corner at half past eight,
I can do the shing-a-ling,
I can do the twist
I can do The hootchie-cootchie
And it goes like this"

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Source #6
From http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/2015/05/1960s-jump-rope-rhymes/
"One of my favorite things to do as a little girl was jump rope.  I could go and go and go, jumping on my own, but the most fun was jumping with other little girls.  Two girls would turn the rope and one or more girls would jump, until they missed and has to take turns turning the rope so the other girls could jump.  We never did anything fancy like Double-Dutch, but I remember some of the rhymes we jumped to……

I’m a little Dutch girl dressed in blue
These are the duties that I must do
Salute to the captain, curtsey to the queen
Turn my back on the dirty submarine
I can do the hootchie-kootchie, I can do the twist
I can do the turn-around and I can do the split"

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Source #7
From https://www.google.com/books/edition/Recess_Battles/Wsm-IE3srh4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=doing+the+hoochie+coochie+dance+in+children%27s+rhymes&pg=PA90&printsec=frontcover Recess Battles: Playing, Fighting, and Storytelling by Anna R. Beresin · 2011 · ‎
"Girl Scout  Girl Scout
Do your duty
Cause you got a thing
And that’s all that
Salute to the captain
Bow to the queen
Turn all around like a submarine
Oh, I can do the hoochie koochie
I can do the split
Bet you five dollars
You can’t do this
Lady on one foot
Lady on two foot
Close your eyes and count to ten
If you miss you got too tense
1,2,3, 4, 5…
(1992/1999)"

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The History Of The Hoochie Coochie Dance (including information about The Song "Ham Fat Man")

MindsiMedia Home, March 6, 2019

Here's a 19th century film clip from Edison studios in it a young dancer named Ella Lola performs a period "Oriental" dance (commonly known as a belly dance) with some Turkish styling. She performs distinctive  hoochie coochie dance movements that include shoulder shimmies with pelvic movements and several foot patterns, side traveling movements with pelvic circles, a slow pelvic circle and a front pelvic lock, and paddle turns with various arm gestures. Her dance costume consists of a two-layered skirt to the knee, a hip belt with fringe, a chemise-like shirt under a fitted vest, several layers of necklaces and front decoration, white stockings, white--perhaps ballet--shoes, and a glittering fitted cap.

Background on the dancer provided by dance ethnologist Michelle Forner, 5/22/96. From the New York clipper, 4/19/02, p. 167: Ella Lola was born Sept. 2, 1883, in Boston, and made her first appearance as a dancer at the age of eleven years, and by her clever work has steadily come to the fore, until now she takes rank among the best in her class. She has been featured at various times with road companies, and has met with success at the leading vaudeville houses through the country. CREATED/PUBLISHED Apparently filmed in Thomas Edison's "Black Maria" studio in West Orange, New Jersey in 1898. Music is “Bazar” by Lobo Loco downloaded from FreeMusicArchive. You can find more music by them here. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lob...

And here's a link to an interesting post on Edison's films. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article...

-snip-
I reformatted this video summary to enhance its readability.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the Hoochie Coochie Dance.

This post showcases a 19th century film clip of what is now called "the Hoochie Coochie dance".

This post also presents a long excerpt from a 2016 blog post written by Peter Jensen Brown. Peter Jensen Brown's blog post presents some history about what is now called "the Hoochie Coochie dance". I'm particularly interested in portions of that blog post that provides information about early forms of that dance name and portions of that post that provides information about and lyrics for the African American song "The Ham Fat Man".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/09/examples-of-childrens-recreational.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. That post presents some examples of English language children's recreational rhymes that include a reference to the "Hoochie Coochie dance".

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Thomas Edison for this film and thanks to Ella Lola, the dancer who is featured in this film.
Thanks to Peter Jensen Brown and all those who are quoted in this post.

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THE HISTORY OF THE HOOCHIE KOOCHIE DANCE   
From https://esnpc.blogspot.com/2016/07/part-ii-history-and-etymology-of.html#:~:text=The%20exotic%2C%20erotic%20form%20of,dance%E2%80%9D%20or%20danse%20du%20ventre The History and Etymology of the "Hoochie-Coochie" Dance.

Peter Jensen Brown,  July 8, 2016

Part II - the History and Etymology of the "Hoochie-Coochie" Dance
..."The exotic, erotic form of dancing popularized at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 would only later become known as the “coochie-coochie” or “hoochie-coochie.”.  When the dance rose to prominence three years earlier, at the Paris World’s Fair, the dance was generally referred to as the “stomach dance” or danse du ventre (French for dance of the stomach).  During the six-month run of the Chicago fair, the dance was generally referred to as, danse du ventre, “mussle dance,” “stomach dance” or the “Midway dance.”

 About one year before the Chicago World’s Fair, a dancer named “Avita” (or “Vita”), an Italian-American dancer who was educated in a convent in France, introduced a dance called the “Kouta-Kouta” in a Broadway play about a man who inherited his uncle’s harem when the uncle (as it turned out) faked his own death to avoid facing his first wife.  Avita said she learned the dance in India from a Rajah’s favorite dancer.  The dance may not have been precisely the same as a belly dance, but it was considered just as risqué, and was lumped together with the other exotic dances that shocked and titillated American audiences.

Shortly after the fair closed, and occasionally during the fair, the name, “Kouta-Kouta” (or the like), became widely associated with Midway dances at the fair.  The name “Coochie-Coochie” first appeared in print about one year after the fair closed; apparently derived from “Kouta-Kouta” under the influence of the expressions, “kutchy, kutchy” and “hootchy, kootchy, kootchy,” which had been popular song lyrics from as early as 1863.  The transition from “Coochie-Coochie” to “Hoochie-coochie” may have been further influenced by a linguistic template favoring rhyming reduplication expressions that begin with “H”, like “helter skelter,” hocus pocus,” and “hodge podge”[i]; and earlier such dancing girl-related expressions like, “hurdy gurdy,” “honky tonk” and “hula-hula,” all of which were in use before “hoochie coochie.”

The dancer named “Little Egypt,” who frequently gets credit for popularizing the dance at the fair, first appears in the written record within weeks after the fair closed.  It is possible that she danced at the fair, but if she did, she did not appear to achieve any degree of notoriety.  She did not become famous, or infamous, until taking her clothes off at a bachelor party thrown for one of P. T. Barnum’s grandsons in 1896.

(See Part I: The "Kouta-Kouta" and the "Coochie-Coochie - a History and Etymology of the "Hoochie-Coochie" Dance.)

[...]

The “kouta-kouta” (by that name) was still being performed in Washington DC[v] and Pittsburg[vi] during 1895.

In late-1894 and again in 1896, two newspapers in Washington DC referred to the dance with an apparently transitional form of the word, midway between “Kouta-Kouta” and “Coochie-Coochie”:

The kutcha-kutcha dance, which was put on with the Reily & Wood show at Kernan's Theater, Monday night, was stopped yesterday by Mr. Kernan, who was much displeased with it.

Washington Post, December 5, 1894, page 6.[vii]

[...]

But by late-1896, the expression “Coochie-Coochie,” which first appeared as early as late-1894, had almost completely erased “Kouta-Kouta,” and “Hoochie-Coochie” was starting to make inroads.

Coochie-Coochie

The earliest example of “coochie-coochie” (or the like) that I could find, in the sense of an exotic, erotic dance, is from a fair in New Jersey; on the other side of New York City from White Plains, where the “kouta-kouta” was still in use:

VICE AND VLUGARITY AT A FAIR.

UNWORTHY FEATURES OF THE SOMERSET COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SHOW

Somerville, N. J., Sept. 13 (Special). – “Come, gents, walk right up and see the ‘Couchee-Couchee Dance.’ For gents only, remember; no ladies allowed.”

New York Tribune, September 14, 1894, page 5.

In February of 1895, a high-society “French Ball” in New York City featured a woman in a skin-tight, flesh-colored body suit, a high-kicker, a “hula-hula” dancer and the “coochie-coochie.”  The police were on hand to stop any funny business.  A reporter was on hand to chronicle the madness.  And the band played “snatches from the coochie coochie,” suggesting that the song, “Poor Little Country Maid” may already have been known

[…]

The “coochie coochee” music played at the masked ball may have been the popular song, “The Streets of Cairo; or The Poor Little Country Maid,” a song about a naïve young country girl who loses her innocence at the fair and gets a job, appearing “each night, in abbreviated clothes.”

The lyrics featured the now familiar expression, “kutchy, kutchy”:

She never saw the Streets of Cairo,
On the Midway she had never strayed,
She never saw the kutchy, kutchy,
Poor little country maid.[viii]

The now-familiar melody is now played in every cartoon ever made with a snake charmer or a Middle Eastern dancing girl.  I think I learned the tune in the second grade; it went something like this: “There’s a place in France, where the Ladies wear no pants, but the men don’t care, ‘cause they wear no underwear.”  Andy Bernard sang it on "The Office" (with slightly different lyrics); and Dan Quinn recorded the original version of the song in 1895.

The same tune was published separately in 1895 as an instrumental called, “Kutchy Kutchy, or the Midway Dance.”

The iconic first five notes of the song (da-da-dah dah dah) are said to be identical to a French dancing song, “Colin Prend Sa Hotte,” which “appears in a French songbook from 1719”; and which, in turn, is nearly identical to “an Algerian or Arabic melody known as Kradoutja . . . popular in France since 1600.”[ix]

The melody had also been associated with exotic dancers during the Chicago World’s Fair.  The theme appears in the “Persian Dancers” section of Gustav Luders’ 1893 composition, “An Afternoon in Midway Plaisance”[x]; beginning in the fourth measure.

It may be only a coincidence, but the fact that the original title of the “kouta-kouta” dance melody was apparently “Kradoutja” in France makes me wonder.  Is “Kouta” a corruption of “Kradoutja”?  I don’t know, and there’s no other suggestion that it is.  But still, the fact that exotic, Middle Eastern dance forms were a hit in Paris before they came to the United States, and that they knew the melody as “Kradoutja,” makes me wonder. 

Of course, I do not know how well known “Kradoutja” was in France, or whether it was popularly associated with Middle Eastern dance there, so the jury is still out.  French linguists – a little help please.  But the first use of the expression, “Kouta-Kouta,” by the dancer “Avita,” who said that she learned the dance in India, may be a more likely explanation for the origin of “hoochie coochie,” as applied to the dance. (See Part I).

By 1896, when Thomas Edison took time off from working on his nickel-a-view X-ray machine to film an exotic dancer doing the “coochie-coochie,” the expression “kouta-kouta” was nearly extinct:

New York, March 29. – Thomas A. Edison ceased experimenting with X-rays today just long enough to see some Coochee-Coochee dancers photographed for exhibition in his kinetoscope.  Then he went back to his Crookes tubes and stayed at work all night, for his wife was away.

The wizard has almost completed another nickel-in-the-slot machine.  You put your hand in a box containing X-rays and a fluorescent screen.  Drop in a nickel and see the bones of your hand.

 The Pacific Commercial Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii), April 20, 1896, page 1.

Through the magic of Youtube – you can still see Edison’s Coochee-Coochee dancers (note, I do not vouch for the dates or titles; these are early images – but the dates, titles and places may be wrong):

Black Maria, Hoochie Coochie (1894) Thomas A. Edison
Fatima’s Coochee-Coochee Dance – Edison - 1896
Little Egypt (Fatima Djemille) 1896 Edison
Edison Dancer Ella Lola – Turkish Dancer (1898)

The expression, “coochie-coochie” had a brief run of dominance, but “hoochie-coochie” was not far behind.

Hoochie-Coochie

One of the earliest examples of “hoochie-coochie” I could find date to 1896, in the title of another song about the fair, “When I Do the Hoochy Coochy in de Sky.”  The lyrics refer several attractions from the World’s Fair and reflect the casually racist language of the day (“coon” and “nig”) – and again with the X-rays:

They’ll turn the X-rays on me when the music plays,
So dat ev’ry one can see into the dance,
I’m goin’ to do the coochy seven thousand diff’rent ways,
And I’ll knock the Midway people in a trance.
Oh, I have got a big balloon
With a seat for ev’ry coon,
So now ev’ry nig must either go or die;
Don’t you listen to strange rumors,
but go buy a pair of “bloomers,”
For to do the hoochy coochy in the sky![xi]

In 1904, The Colored American (a newspaper based in Washington DC) called the songwriter, Gussie L. Davis, “[t]he most famous Negro composer of popular songs”; so it is not immediately clear whether they lyrics pandered to white attitudes and tastes, or reflected common black usage of the time.

Music historian, Charles Kennedy, in his essay, “When Cairo Met Main Street” (included in the book, Music and Culture in America, 1861-1918), places the expression, “hoochie coochie” (the dance) at Surf Avenue, Coney Island, in 1895 [xii]; which, if true, would make the expression older than the song, but still younger than “Kouta-Kouta” and “Coochie-Coochie.”

[UPDATE: September 4, 2017] The expression, "Hoochie Coochie," does, in fact, pre-date 1896.  It appeared in an account of the Great Southern Fair in November 1895:

After this [mock-wedding] ceremony the Hoochie coochie dance too place in the theatre.  This dance shows strange skill in the manipulation of all the muscles of the body, but its descriptino does not come within the bounds of propriety.  It is a credit to the managers of our North Carolina Fair that the Hoochie coochie was stopped, and I understand the Georgia legislature has passed a law against it, to take effect after the fair.

The Washington Gazette (Washington, North Carolina), November 14, 1895, page 2. [End Update]

Charles Kennedy also postulated that “hoochy coochy,” in the context of the song, did not refer to the then popular dance, but harkened back to an early meaning related to the lyric, “hoochee koochee koochee,” in the song, “The Ham Fat Man,” a staple of minstrel shows in the 1860s. [xiii]  I am inclined to disagree.  The song’s exhortation to “buy a pair of ‘bloomers,’ [f]or to do the hoochy coochy in the sky,” is a clear allusion to purchasing a loose-fitting pair of “harem pants,” now perhaps better known as “Hammer” pants (as in M. C. Hammer); precisely the types of pants someone might wear to do a “hoochie-coochie” dance.

But that is not to say that there is no connection between “hoochie-coochie” and “The Ham Fat Man.”  The transition from “Kouta-Kouta” to “Coochie-Coochie” and “Hoochie-Coochie” may have been influenced by a general familiarity with the old Ham-Fat lyrics; and perhaps to more recent popular songs of the 1880s, like “Kutchy, Kutchy My Baby” (1884) and “Kutchy, Kutchy Coo!” (1888).

[…]

If “Kutchy, Kutchy” was kissy-face, baby-talk nonsense in the 1880s, it may have been just rhyming, kissy-face nonsense in the 1860s, when “hootchy, cootchy, cootchy” is first attested – in the lyrics of “The Ham Fat Man.”

The Ham Fat Man

Both “hoochie-coochie” (derived from “coochie coochie”) and “coochie-coochie” (an altered form of kouta-kouta) may have been derived, at least in part, from a general familiarity with what was then a decades-old song lyric, “hootchy, kootchy, kootchy, I’m the Ham Fat Man.”  “The Ham Fat Man” was a staple of black-face minstrelsy in the 1860s, but is best known today as the inspiration for the word “hamfatter,” later shortened to “ham,” meaning a bad actor.

The earliest reference I could find to the song is in a report of a military construction battalion of free black workers erecting the defenses around Baltimore during the American Civil War:

[...]

At the time, the song was only a few years old.  The earliest indication of the song that I’ve found is an instruction to sing the early Civil War song, “The Union Man” (published in 1861) to the tune of “The Ham Fat Man.”[xiv]

Although Baltimore’s construction battalion is quoted as having sung, “Coochee, Coochee, Coochee,” other published versions of the song, and later reminiscences of the song, generally recite the lyric, “hoochy, koochy, koochy” (or equivalent).[xv]  Alternate versions of the song, however, used “rooksey, cooksey, cooksey[xvi] or “roochy coochy coochy.”[xvii]

The song, or performers who sang the song, seem to have been wildly popular for a time; with several rival performers claiming to be the “original” “Ham Fat Man.”  But by 1865, the song had already overstayed its welcome…

[…]

By 1903, with many of the old-time blackface performers dying away, the song may have reached such a level of obscurity that the origin of the term “hamfatter” (bad actor) was not widely known.  An old-timer explained the origins of the term for a new generation:

Perhaps from the giving away of ham at Pastor’s the impression may prevail that that’s just how the term ‘hamfatter’ for a bad performer originated but this is not so.

The expression is an old minstrel term and came from the refrain of a song and dance which goes something like this: ‘Ham fat, ham fat, smoking in the pan.’  This song became popular, and the performers and later the public caught up the term.  When a minstrel or a variety actor appeared and he was not up to the standard they used to yell at him, ‘Ham fat, ham fat, smoking in the pan.’  And this was abbreviated until poor actors were known as ‘hamfatters.’

The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), June 13, 1902 (reprint from the New York Sun).

Ham Fat Men

The “Ham Fat Man” was more than just a character in a minstrel show; he was based on an actual occupation.  Other occupations were also subject to parody by the minstrels.  One song book of the period[xix], for example, has songs about, “The Soap Fat Man” (another name for the “ham fat man”), “The Stage Driver,” “The Pop-Corn Man,” “The Charcoal Man,” “The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter,” “The Shop Gals,” and “The Candle Maker’s Daughter.”

Not long since a class of traders called “soap fat men” used to go from house to house exchanging soap for the refuse fat accumulated by housewifes.

The Democrat (London), Volume 2, Number 23, December 5, 1885, page 178.

Soap-fat men, or ham-fat men, were at the low end of the food chain.  Ham-fat men went door to door collecting leftover ham and bacon grease for delivery to a soap boiler.  The soap boiler, in turn, made soap and tallow candles to be sold or traded back to the households donating the fat.  A nostalgic piece from 1920 described the business as practiced in one neighborhood in Washington DC:

Who remembers the soap factory on the banks of Rock Creek at the terminus of Twenty-fifth and U streets, where you could take a quart bucket of grease and get a long bar of common soap, good for family washing, household scrubbing, etc?

The Washington Times (Washington DC), May 23, 1920, page 16.

A description of a poor neighborhood in which a quack doctor treated patients at the police station in the early 1800s lumps “soap-fat men” in with a number of other lowly trades:

These, however, were the aristocrats of my practice; the bulk of my patients were soap-fat men, rag-pickers, oystermen, hose-house bummers, and worse, with other and nameless trades, men and women, white, black, or mulatto.

The Century, volume 59, number 15, page 114.

[…]

But the “Ham Fat Man” did have one advantage; he had an opportunity to meet all of the women, cooks and kitchen staff in the neighborhood.  Like the milk man of later generations, the “Ham-Fat Man” of song was a sort of neighborhood lothario; precisely the kind of man who might be the “someone in the kitchen with Dinah,” another staple of minstrel performances.

The Lyrics

The various versions of “The Ham-Fat Man” and “The Soap Fat Man” that I have seen, involve a relationship with someone on his fat-collection route.  In “The Soap Fat Man,” which does not appear to be the same song, although it relates to a similar character, he seduces an “old maid” who is “fifty-six with a face of tan”; takes her to a “lager bier” garden; convinces her lend him $10 to open his own beer garden; and then absconds with the funds; as “he’d a wife and seven children, had the soap fat man.”

Two versions of “The Ham-Fat Man” may also offer a peek into social conditions that led to the development of so-called, “Soul Food;” traditional foods associated with African-American culture in the South.  Although some features of soul food relate back to grains and vegetables brought over from Africa, other elements of soul food reflect the practice of slave “owners” feeding their captive workers as cheaply as possible.  Slaves had to make do with what were considered less desirable “greens,” as well as less desirable cuts of meat.  The “Ham-Fat” Man is satisfied with the fat of the ham; who needs veal, venison, chicken, hare or lamb:

Oh! good-ev'n to you, white folks,
I'm glad to see you all,
I'm right from ole Virginny,
Which some people say will fall;
You may talk about ole massa,
But he am just de man,
To make de n[-words] happy
Wid de ham-fat man.

Chorus.

Ham-fat, ham-fat, zig a zig a zam,
Ham-fat, ham-fat frying in de pan;
Oh! roll into de kitchen fast, boys, as you can,
Oh! rooksey, cooksey, cooksey, I'm de ham-fat man.

Ole missus she's up stair
A-eating bread and honey;
Massa's in de store
A-counting ob his money;
But Susan's in de kitchen
Frying at de ham,
And saving all de gravy
For de ham-fat man.-Chorus.

Some n[-words] likes de mutton,
Puddin', cakes and jam;
Some like veal and venison,
Chicken, hare and lamb.
But of all dese birds and beastesses
Dat plow the raging main,
Dey're not to be compared
To gravy in de pan - Chorus.

In this version, his relationship with Susan seems to be a good one; she saves her “gravy” and “ham fat” just for him, in what may be a mildly naughty sexual suggestion.

In another version, the “Ham Fat Man” is jealous of his rivals; and his “yaller gal’s” loyalty may be suspect:

When wittels am so plenty, oh! I bound to get my fill;
I know a pretty yaller gal, and I lover her to kill,
If any n[-word] fools wid her, I’ll tan him if I can,
A Hoochee, Koochee, Koochee, says the Hamfat man.

A third version of the song involves a more brazen cheater, who leaves town with an Asian man:

White folks attention, and listen to my song
I’ll sing to you a ditty and it won’t detain you long
It’s all about a pretty girl, whose name was Sara Ann
And she fell deep in love with the ham fat man.

Ham fat, soap fat, candle fat or lard,
Ham fat, cat fat, or any other man,
Jump into the kitchen as quick as you can,
With my roochee, coochee, coochee, the ham fat man.

Now the ham fat man, he couldn't stand the press
For every day she wanted to buy a new dress
His money it was gone and the faithless Sara Ann
She hooked it off to Bathurst with a Chinaman

Elements of the second and third versions point to another early influence on the song; a traditional Irish song called, “The Cuckoo’s Nest.”  Both versions are about a woman who is, or may be, unfaithful, and the third version, from Australia, is said to be sung to the tune of “The Cuckoo’s Nest.”

The connection is plausible.  Although a musicologist might see it differently, you can make your own judgment.  Listen to the Australian version here* – and compare it to this version of “The Ham Fat Man” melody; there is a marked similarity, particularly in the chorus, which begins in the second line:

[…]

Summary

The expression, “hoochie, coochie, coochie,” dates to at least the early 1860s, as an apparently nonsense lyric in the popular minstrel song, “The Ham Fat Man.”  The expression may have been influenced by an older, melodically and rhythmically similar song, “The Cuckoo’s Nest.”  It may also have been understood as a kissing sound (as it would be later in the popular songs, “Kutchy, Kutchy, My Baby,” and “Kutchy, Kutchy, Coo!”), since the ham-fat man of the song generally had some sort of sumpin’-sumpin’ going on with someone.

The “Eastern” dance style popularized at the Paris World’s Fair in 1889 and Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 is not known to have been called the “coochie-coochie” or “hoochie-coochie” until a year or two after the fair closed.  The dancer, “Avita” (or “Vita”) introduced the “Kouta-Kouta” dance on Broadway in 1892, in the harem scene of the play, Elysium.  She claims to have learned the dance in India, where the word, “Kouta” is known to have been the name of a “quick style of dance” as early as 1858.  Avita toured the United States for at least a year, performing the “Kouta-Kouta” in New York, Indianapolis, and Washington DC, before taking the dance to London in early 1894, just a few months after the Chicago World’s Fair closed.

The dance name, “Kouta-Kouta, became associated, generally, with dancing at the Chicago World’s Fair before it closed in October, 1893.  By mid-1894, the “Kouta-Kouta” had made news in all corners of the country, usually in association with dancers said to have performed at the Midway Plaisance at the Chicago World’s Fair.  The name, “Coochie-Coochie,” first appeared in association with the dance in late-1894; and the name, “Hoochie-Coochie,” appeared about one year later.  By the end of 1896, the names, “Coochie-Coochie” and “Hoochie-Coochie” had nearly erased Avita’s “Kouta-Kouta” from the popular lexicon."
 -snip-
*The word "here" in that article leads to this link which is still active on 9/22/2022: http://ozfolksongaday.blogspot.com/2011/05/ham-fat-man.html?m=1

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