Choo'n Gum (Chewing Gum; Chew, Chew, Chew; Bubblegum)

DESCRIPTION: "My mother gave me a penny to see Jack Benny; I did not see Jack Benny, I bought some chewing gum." "My mother gave me a nickel to buy a pickle...I bought some chewing gum." The singer chews so much gum that she cries gum rather than tears
AUTHOR: Mann Curtis and Vic Mizzy (source: mudcat.org thread "Penny to buy chewing gum/Gershwin?")
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (Harbin-Parodology)
KEYWORDS: food money campsong | chewing gum Jack Benny pickle downtown
FOUND IN: US(Ro,So)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Harbin-Parodology, #106, p. 31, "Chewing Gum" (1 text)
Solomon-ZickaryZan, p. 63, "The Thread Was Thin" (1 text, a combination of "Choo'n Gum (Chewing Gum; Chew, Chew, Chew; Bubblegum)" and of "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Go Upstairs")
Ainsworth-JumpRopeVerses, #83, "(I Went Downtown to See Miss Brown)" (1 text, which combines "Choo'n Gum (Chewing Gum; Chew, Chew, Chew; Bubblegum)" with "I'm a Little Dutch Girl"); #101, "(I went downtown And met Miss Brown)" (1 text)
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, p. 138, "I went downtown, to see Miss Brown" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp, 142-143, 387, "Chewing Gum"/"Bubblegum" (notes only)
Abrahams-JumpRopeRhymes, #269, "I went downtown" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Peter and Iona Opie, _I Saw Esau: Traditional Rhymes of Youth_, #58, "(I went downtown To meet Mrs. Brown)" (1 text)
NOTES [61 words]: There is probably some deliberate irony in the idea of spending money to see Jack Benny, who often portrayed himself as an extreme miser, but the children in camp surely did not know this.
In any case, the song is older; the Harbin-Parodology version has no Jack Benny mention -- and no verse involving a penny. Interesting that a new verse could fit in so well. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: ACSF142C

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