Lily The Pink

Buster Keaton & The Bride
Possibly from The Cameraman

Looking for something to watch on YouTube and this image catches my eye. The tune isn't bad, but I've only heard it once, we shall see if it gets played again. It's the image that captured my interest. Screen shot, crop & Google Image Search doesn't get me any answers, but it does lead me to this story: A Mysterious Woman in Buster Keaton’s “The Cameraman” wherein I find this bit:

Who the heck is Lydia Pinkham?

You know, in The Cameraman (1928) when Buster goes to the MGM newsreel building, looking for Marceline Day and shows the doorman the tintype of her and asks about her. The doorman says:

["Maybe it's Lydia Pinkham"]

This usually gets a smattering of chuckles, just because of the incongruity of the answer. He could just have easily said, “Maybe it’s Greta Garbo”. But Keaton, or Ralph Spence or whoever wrote the titles for The Cameraman put that reference in because it was hilarious in 1928 and it would have been taken out or changed during previews if it wasn’t.

Why was a reference to Lydia Pinkham so darned funny? 

Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

If Wikipedia and a few other websites are to be trusted, Lydia Pinkham was known for an herbal tonic, touted as a cure for menstrual cramps and other ladies’ ailments. A popular patent medicine in the late 19th century, and Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound became doubly popular in the 1920s. Because it was 18% alcohol. Remember how I mentioned reminding the audience about prohibition? The alcohol content of Pinkham’s is about mid-way between beer and gin.

There was even a folk song written about Pinkham’s elixir, a drinking song, called “The Ballad of Lydia Pinkham” also known as “Lily The Pink”, that was around during WWI.

And here we are:

The Scaffold - Lily The Pink
WiggyVideos

Lyrics, courtesy of Musixmatch:

We'll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink

The savior of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

Mr. Freers had sticky out ears

And it made him awful shy

And so they gave him medicinal compound

And now he's learning how to fly

Robert Tony was known to be bony

He would never eat his meal

And so they gave him medicinal compound

Now they move him round on wheels

We'll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the pink

The savior of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

Old Ebenezer thought he was Julius Caesar

And so they put him in a home

Where they gave him medicinal compound

And now he's emperor of Rome

Johnny Hammer had a terrible st-st-st-st-stammer

He could hardly s-s-say a word

And so they gave him medicinal compound

Now's he's seen, but never heard

We'll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink

The savior of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

Aunty Milly ran willy-nilly

When her legs they did recede

And so they rubbed on medicinal compound

Now they call her Milly Pede

Jennifer Eccles had terrible freckles

And the boys all called her names

But she changed medicinal compound

Now he joins in all the games

We'll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink

The savior of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

Lily the Pink, she turned to drink

She filled up with paraffin inside

And despite her medicinal compound

Sadly pickled Lily died

Up to heaven her soul ascended

All the church bells they did ring

She took with her medicinal compound

Hark the herald angels sing

We'll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink

The savior of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

Wikipedia links:

• Buster Keaton
• The Cameraman
• Lily The Pink
• Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound
• Lydia E. Pinkham