Junior Birdmen

DESCRIPTION: "Up in/into the air, junior birdmen, Into the air, upside down; Into the air, junior birdmen... And when you see all those birdmen With their shiny wings of tin, Then you will know the junior birdmen Have sent their boxtops in!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1955 (used in a movie, according to Wikipedia)
KEYWORDS: technology campsong
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, p, 211, "Junior Birdman" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 123, 265, 318, 319, 385, 513, "Junior Birdsmen" (notes, with an unusual stanza on p. 385)
DT, INTOAIR2
Roud #15440
NOTES [77 words]: This apparently originated in the "Junior Birdmen of America" organization, founded in the 1930s to encourage young people to become involved in aviation. (There is a Wikipedia article about it, "Junior Birdmen"). You wouldn't think such a jingle would become traditional, but it is associated with the "junior birdman" finger-mask. I suspect that it is the chance to make the funny face, not dubious virtues of the song itself, which have kept the song alive. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF124J

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