Hit at the Times, or, A Jumping Epistle, A

DESCRIPTION: "We are all jumping through the world, And some are jumping fast... The most are jumping to get rich But find their bad mistake... The banks are sure to break." Dr. Brandreth's Pills don't prevent death. Quacks just take your money. Others are humbugs too
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (Jackson-EarlySongsOfUncleSam)
KEYWORDS: warning money trick
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-EarlySongsOfUncleSam, pp. 27-28, "A Hit at the Times, or A Jumping Epistle" (1 text)
Roud #13946
NOTES [140 words]: This is listed as being in found in the Forget-Me-Not Songster, but it is not in my particular edition. It sounds to me as if it is in response to some political event or other -- maybe Andrew Jackson's war on the Second Bank of the United States. There are several explicit references to events of the late 1830s and early 1840s:
- The exact date when Thomas Rice originated the character of Jim Crow is uncertain, but it was around 1830
- According to the Smithsonian web site, Benjamin Brandreth (1809-1880) moved to the United States in 1835 to try to sell the vegetable pills invented by his grandfather.
- Charles Dickens published Nicholas Nickleby in 1838-1839.
- In 1840, William Henry Harrison ran for President in the "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign.
Thus a date of 1840 or soon after seems to be indicated for the song. - RBW
Last updated in version 7.0
File: JESU027

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