My Sweet Little Air Force Blue Suit

DESCRIPTION: "Now we're in the Air Force WD, Brass buttons and flat heels are all that you see. No glamour, no charm, with our closely cropped hair, But our little blue suits are doing their share." Despite the un-glamorous clothing, the women are proud of their work
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear)
KEYWORDS: clothes soldier nonballad
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear, p. 80, "My Sweet Little Air Force Blue Suit: (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #24975
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Alice Blue Gown" (tune)
cf. "Night-Gown of Blue" (tune)
NOTES [309 words]: Gardner, p. 328, estimates that "Alice Blue Gown," words by Joe McCarthy, music by Harry Tierney, was the thirty-fourth-most popular song in America in 1920; p. 447 says that it had a second peak in 1940, reaching #12 in May of that year. Presumably it was the second spike in popularity that inspired the parodies, since they are clearly from World War II.
Laufe, p. 465 says that "Alice Blue Gown" is from the musical "Irene," book by James Montgomery, lyrics by McCarthy, music by Tierney; the musical premiered in November 1919 and ran for 670 performances -- the longest run for a production of its type until "Oklahoma!" more than two decades later, according to Laufe, p. 10. It also was featured by many touring companies.
Laufe, p. 9, says that "Irene" was based on a Cinderella motif. "Poor but honest working girl" Irene O'Day makes a delivery to a rich man, Donald Marshall, who is able to find her a job as a model. Problems ensue when she borrows a blue gown from the shop, but eventually she and Marshall marry.
The original blue gown was presumably supplied by Lucille, Ltd., which supplied the women's costumes for "Irene."
The original Irene was Edith Day, who also recorded the song. There were apparently two movie versions. This was the only song from the production to be genuinely popular, according to Laufe, p. 9.
Wikipedia claims the title was inspired by the gowns of Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
Although there seem to be no field collections, there were at least three old-time recordings, by Milton Brown and His Brownies (Decca 5311, 1937), by Bill Boyd and His Cowboy Ramblers (Bluebird B8141, 1939), and by the Light Crust Doughboys (Vocalion 05535/Oheh 05535/Columbia 20322, 37745, 1940). Also, my father learned it well enough, probably in the late 1930s or early 1940s, to still remember the tune and some text in 2023. - RBW
Bibliography

Gardner: Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000
Laufe: Abe Laufe, Broadway's Greatest Musicals, Funk & Wagnalls, 1969 (I use the 1977 edition)

Last updated in version 6.6
File: Hopk080

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