Send Him a Cheerful Letter

DESCRIPTION: "I'm thinking, Mrs. Atkins, now that Tommy's gone away You will send him a letter from home." "Send him a cheerful letter, Say that it’s all OK. Tell him you’ve ne’er felt better, Though it’s all the other way." No matter how bad the news, say good things
AUTHOR: R. P. Weston (1878-1936), Bert Lee (1880-1946) , and Maie Ash (1888-1923) (source: Internet listing of songs of Weston and Lee at folksongandmusichall.com)
EARLIEST DATE: 2001 (Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver)
KEYWORDS: soldier family home | letter
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, pp. 35-36, "Send Him a Cheerful Letter" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Carlton Trio, "Send Him a Cheerful Letter" (Winner[?] 3212)
NOTES [62 words]: In the First World War, the families of soldiers were urged to send their boys cheerful letters to help keep up their morale. Here, the advice is exaggerated to the point of absurdity.
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver reports that this was sung by Maie Ash (1888-1923).
For the long list of songs by R. P. Weston, or Weston and Bert Lee, see the notes to "Goodbye-ee." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: AWTBW035

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