90's

No, not the 1990's...

…The 1890’s

I’ve always liked the name.

It’s sonorous as well as evocative. And then swiftly enigmatic when you find out the original source remains unclear to this day.

Probably some of the best legends begin that way, eh?

The name is merely words strung together. Simple words that couldn’t possibly encapsulate the legendary roster of artists who famously became associated with that historic neighborhood of NYC at the turn of the 20th century: “Tin Pan Alley.”

True, the name alone demarcates a fixed location on West 28th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues. But it has come to mean so much more than that.

Photo by Sudhith Xavier on Unsplash

Lost on me were these details a small child, as you can imagine. And yet by the time I was a teenager, I was exposed to and had learned many songs from this magical era of American popular music that is generally accepted to mean music released between 1890 to 1930.

How did this happen?

Why would a child of the 90’s collecting Pokémon cards and listening to the Spice Girls enjoy music from basically a different century?

What freak accident spilled across my undeveloped palate such that I knew lyrics and melodies of a nearly forgotten time in the American zeitgeist?

Turns out — due to grace of the gift that keeps on giving — by watching television in the mid to late 90’s. One hundred years after the Tin Pan Alley kickstarted the careers of giants like Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, and Oscar Hammerstein II, I was passively ingesting this cultural and musical movement by way of the glow of a boxy TV set.

My biggest influencer?

Why none other than the television show that dominated the airwaves during the 1950’s, I Love Lucy.

image from giphy.com

A huge chunk of my childhood memories involves gathering around a television set with my family, roaring with laughter while watching Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and their friends muck through one outlandish sitcom scenario after another. I wrote all about this in a previous post:

Lucy

Only this year did I realize yet another side effect of growing up with Lucy — she gave me my first taste of what are now generally referred to as Tin Pan Alley hits. Lucy on numerous episodes would showcase classics from that period. Very likely, the actors, writers, and producers of the show remembered when these songs were released as children or young people. Lucy always seemed to revel in referencing the musical stylings of vaudeville and theatre from a time before the radio or television set had become staples in American homes.

What an incredible time it must have been to be alive. When it was perfectly natural to remember songs that were written before half of the homes in the US had electricity. Before the first automotive vehicle was on the road. Before the first World War. Before women got the right to vote in the US. Before the decadence of the Roaring Twenties, the stock market crash, or the subsequent Great Depression.

As a five year old, I was listening to Tin Pan Alley music with no reference, no bias, and certainly no mature musical comprehension. Being the sponge that I was, I absorbed it all and assumed everyone else knew these tunes as well.

Clash of the 90’s

While Lucy was not considered a contemporary show, there were a lot of television shows that seemed to be infusing a catchy turn-of-the-20th century jingle here and there into their 90’s programming. With the looming Y2K drawing near, my ears were privy to what feels like the last breath of mainstream use of music written between 1890 and 1930.

But there were other influencers, too.

In retrospect, I learned several songs in elementary school that date back to that time period. Teachers and educators taught and encouraged us to sing songs like:

• “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (1894) - Traditional

• “America, The Beautiful” (1910) - written by Katharine Lee Bates

• “You’re a Grand Old Flag” (1906) - written by George M. Cohan

• “Happy Birthday” (1912) - written by Patty Hill

But songs that specifically emerged from the Tin Pan Alley that we learned in school might have included:

• “God Bless America” (1918) - written by Irving Berlin

• “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908) - written by Albert Von Tilzer and Jack Norworth

• “California, Here I Come” (1921) - written by Bud DeSylva, Joseph Meyer, and Al Jolson

• “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1904) - written by George M. Cohan

So, maybe it wasn’t so odd that older tunes were cropping up on TV channels geared toward a young audience.

Unabashed were some TV shows to center Tin Pan Alley songs, such as the Nickelodeon classic, Hey, Arnold!, with their rendition of “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1909) written by Gus Edwards and Edward Madden.

Here’s another tune from the same show, done for more comedic effect, but it’s there just the same. Notably, or not surprisingly, it is the grandfather character who finds himself singing “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (1911) written by Seymour Brown and Nat D. Ayer.

The WB (RIP) even brought back the Looney Tunes character of Michigan J. Frog from the 1950’s archive to sing parodies of "Hello! Ma Baby (Hello Ma Ragtime Gal)" (1899) written by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson.

Sometimes, the songs were not necessarily creations composed on rickety pianos in a NYC tenement house. For example, the Disney produced classic, Recess, featured “Daisy Bell” (1892) written by British songwriter Harry Dacre.

Or perhaps, a song leaned more traditional. Like this American cowboy tune, featured on the same show, sorrowfully played on a harmonica. Here’s “Red River Valley” (1928) the only way a children’s animated TV show can perform it.

And I’m certain there were many more ragtime chords, barbershop quartet sounds, and middlebrow blues and jazz sprinkled throughout my childhood. They add up once you start to count them. How quickly you discover that your past is filled with treasures from someone else’s past.

Who doesn’t enjoy a reminiscing session, honestly? Nostalgia is practically an Olympic sport among Millennials and Zillennials alike. Maybe sitting in front of the TV is in part to blame, and not just for my generation. Lucy was one of the first television programs to be broadcasted across the country, as in ever — and how did they use their newfound airtime?

By swimming in the sea of the American collective memory. By conjuring up the ghosts of popular music’s past. By luxuriating in selective “better” or more “carefree” times. We all do it.

Let’s bask in the interpretations of some truly old timey music by way of early television sensibilities. Lucy added some pizzaz to these hits, in the only way she could. Enjoy this short compilation! (I was unable to find anymore clips from the show, at least ones that were easy on the eyes.)

The Music Time Forgot

• “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” (1914 or 1925) - the 1925 version is credited to Ray Henderson, Sam M. Lewis, and Joseph Widow Young.

• “Carolina in the Morning” (1922) – written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson.

• “Sweet Sue Just You” (1928) - written by Victor Young and Will J. Harris.

But just in case you were wondering, here are more Tin Pan Alley hits that were performed before their live studio audience:

• “When The Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along” (1926) - written by Harry Woods

• “When You’re Smiling” (1928) - written by Larry Shay, Mark Fisher, and Joe Goodwin

• “I Want A Girl Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad” (1911) - written by Harry Von Tilzer and William Dillon

• “Oh, By Jingo!” (1919) – written by Albert Von Tilzer

• “Red River Valley” (1927) - Traditional

Do I remember all of these songs and the plot of the episodes in which they are featured?

You bet I do.

Because it’s sad to think about, really.

I think there are very few, if any, older adults with us right now that might have a direct connection with American popular music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But it is comforting to know that it’s highly likely that everyone is familiar with a musician or melody associated with the Tin Pan Alley. You don’t need to be 95 years old to appreciate that.

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

In the 1990’s, it seemed as if you couldn’t escape the musicianship of the 1890’s and the subsequent decades if you tried. I’m certain you all remember that memorable seen in Titanic when Leo tenderly sings to Kate, “Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" (1910) written by Fred Fisher and Alfred Bryan.

Don’t fight it.

Join me and the rest of the old souls of the world.

Think hard, now. Do you know or enjoy any music that might have been released between 1890 and 1930? I would love to know which ones! Do share.

May we all embrace, and hopefully remember, the indelible effect the Tin Pan Alley has had on us all. I will stop at nothing to bring this music to the forefront of people’s minds. And with any luck, pop culture, media, and taste makers will continue to champion these songs, too.

I hope you’ll join us.

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It’s been an incredible year. Filled with memories of the past, and soon to be awash with memories anew.

With 2025 upon us, I’m wishing you all the very best. May your pens be swift. Your typewriting fingers be nimble. And your hearts and minds courageous enough to take the past along for the journey.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Stay charming,

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Further exploration

• https://www.banjojudy.com/tin-pan-alley-songs/

• https://chrisdalton08540.tripod.com/ilovelucyguide/songs.html

• Tin Pan Alley’s Greatest Hits, 1922 - 1929 - Various Artists

• Disc 4 of Titanic: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Collector’s Anniversary Edition - James Horner

• https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/this-nyc-street-is-now-officially-called-tin-pan-alley-040522

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This post is 9 of 24 for the Sparkle on Substack Essay Club hosted by

Claire Venus (she/her) ✨

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