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Sunday, July 4, 2021

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:


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