When the Wagon Was New

DESCRIPTION: "There's an old rusty wagon that's left to rot away." The family all rode it together in "the good old days" when everyone was friendly and the family was happy. Now, with planes and cars everywhere, "good neighbors are so few" and people need more money
AUTHOR: Sam McGee?
EARLIEST DATE: 1981 (Burton-TennesseeTraditionalSingers); probably in circulation before 1940
KEYWORDS: travel family money
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Burton-TennesseeTraditionalSingers, pp. 139-140, "When the Wagon Was New" (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [68 words]: Sam McGee seems to have been the first to record this song, and apparently claimed at one time to have learned it from an unnamed informant in Illinois. But McGee later claimed to have written it himself (a Mudcat thread claims he copyrighted it in 1971). Given the reference to airplanes, the song almost certainly dates from the 1920s or later, which somewhat bolsters but does not prove McGee's claim. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.8
File: BTN139

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