Night-Gown of Blue

DESCRIPTION: "In my sweet little night-gown of blue, On the first night that I slept with you, I was both shy and scared... And you played peekaboo with my ribbons of blue... You said you adored it, but... you tore it, My sweet little night-gown of blue"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1979 (Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear)
KEYWORDS: sex clothes
FOUND IN: Canada
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Hopkins-SongsFromTheFrontAndRear, p. 134, "Night-Gown of Blue" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #10425
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Alice Blue Gown" (tune)
cf. "My Sweet Little Air Force Blue Suit" (tune)
NOTES [237 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. - 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: Hopk134A

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