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Nellie the Elephant - who else remembers?

(177 Posts)
Witzend Mon 09-Jan-23 09:05:27

Goodness knows why, but I suddenly had this on the brain the other day, when visiting dd and family. Found the Children’s Favourites (1956 Mandy Miller) version on good old YouTube - Gdcs thoroughly enjoyed it - I had them merrily singing along in the bath!

dustyangel Wed 11-Jan-23 21:03:03

I can remember collecting paper golliwogs too. I still have a fondness for Robertson’s marmalade.
Does anyone remember dancing to “Nellie the Elephant”? blush

Diplomat Wed 11-Jan-23 21:59:27

I bought a lovely rocking elephant for the grandchildren and sing Nelly the Elephant to them. Always sing nursery rhymes in the car with them. They also love 'Two little dickie birds sitting on a wall' when the paper disappears from my fingers and then appears again.

Gala Wed 11-Jan-23 22:17:52

We have a lot of fun & laughter dustyangel especially when we sing something like 'How much is that doggy in the window' which is always accompanied by a lot of barking. Or the Tiny Tim version of 'Tiptoe thro' the tulips' in (false) falsetto. Everyone leaves smiling & chatting.

LadyGaGa Wed 11-Jan-23 22:29:11

I remember the Gollies. I got several enamel broaches and I can remember collecting little pot Golly figures with instruments to make a band. I must have liked jam!

happycatholicwife1 Wed 11-Jan-23 23:13:17

I totally agree, and some of those songs are familiar to me as well. What I don't get are 8 and 9 year old children going to see rock concerts like the one where so many British children were killed. My mother used to take me to movies that starred Doris Day and were things like Please Don't Eat The Daisies. I saw many of the original Disney films: Cinderella, Snow White, etc. I had a little record player that played 45s, and I had lots of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers songs. Now you seem to see very young children going with their mothers to see vulgar acts that would have been considered pornographic when I was a child. Don't get why people want to sexualize their children at such a young age.

GrannyBeek Wed 11-Jan-23 23:47:47

I remember all of these! Had completely forgotten Bimbo, though. He’s now my ear worm.

My favourite was The Railroad Runs Through The Middle Of The House.

Where Will The Dimple Be?
Little Red Monkey.
When Father Papered The Parlour
I could go on - memories!

Joplin Thu 12-Jan-23 00:50:42

I haven’t heard anyone mention Sparky’s Magic Piano for years. I used to play it over & over again & it inspired me to become a professional pianist. After years of solitary practicing & recitals I sometimes wished it had been Sparky’s Magic Violin.

Gabrielle56 Thu 12-Jan-23 15:07:01

Wowsers! We listened to sparky on a Wednesday at our private school we also had "films" instead of lessons too! I used to be a bit upset when the piano let sparky down in the recital!! It was like when nobody would believe me when I denied stuff my sis accused me of ( and she'd done!!) Early introduction to injustice? 😅

Gabrielle56 Thu 12-Jan-23 15:08:26

Yep! Another weepy!

Gabrielle56 Thu 12-Jan-23 15:09:52

Kate1949

I remember this ine.

20 tiny fingers
20 tiny toes
2 angel faces each with a turned up nose.
One looks like mommy with a cute little curl on top
And the other one's got a big bald spot exactly like his pop.

......pop..poppa pop pop pop!!!

Callistemon21 Thu 12-Jan-23 15:16:50

They're all lovely

Now - who else remembers:
"Poisoning pigeons in the park" by Tom Lehrer

tomlehrersongs.com

Callistemon21 Thu 12-Jan-23 18:19:13

Oh dear, I hope I haven't killed this lovely thread!

Here's a link to The Happy Wanderer smile

www.songfacts.com/lyrics/the-obernkirchen-childrens-choir/the-happy-wanderer

Mollygo Thu 12-Jan-23 19:08:46

I hope not Callistemon21. Nobody’s mentioned Percy had a Pigeon yet, or Where have you been, Henry my son.

grumppa Thu 12-Jan-23 19:46:57

Does anyone remember

Hey, hey, clear the way!
Here comes the galloping major!

Late 1940s, it must have been.

Callistemon21 Thu 12-Jan-23 21:33:52

grumppa

Does anyone remember

Hey, hey, clear the way!
Here comes the galloping major!

Late 1940s, it must have been.

Yes, I do.
And two of our friends remembered it with particular fondness and hilarity!

Glorianny Thu 12-Jan-23 21:38:44

Earlier than that- Harry Fay www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDgwR49t_qg

Witzend Thu 12-Jan-23 23:17:53

Callistemon21

They're all lovely

Now - who else remembers:
"Poisoning pigeons in the park" by Tom Lehrer

tomlehrersongs.com

I remember my elder sister’s Tom Lehrer LP - I found all the songs very funny but almost better was what was written on the back of the sleeve:
‘To clean record, use a fairly dry Martini.’
To me at 12 or so that was the height of wit!

Witzend Thu 12-Jan-23 23:22:17

I loved the TL hunting song that went, IIRC,

‘I always will remember
‘‘twas a year ago September
I went out to shoot some deer
On a morning bright and clear
I went and shot the maximum
The game laws would allow,
Two game wardens,
Seven hunters
And a cow.’
To me then, that was 😂😂.

JackyB Fri 13-Jan-23 09:06:42

I have just read this thread through, very attentively I hope, but no one seems to have mentioned

Inchworm, inchworm, measuring the marigolds

The other part went

Two and two are four, four and four are eight....

It was a favourite in our house.

Nearly all the others were on a cassette tape that my kids nearly wore out listening to, and have now made it a favourite with their own children.

It's called All Aboard and has Nellie the Elephant, Arthur Askey's Bee Song, the Hippopotamus song (mud, mud, glorious mud), the old Lady who swallowed a fly, Terry Scott 's My Brother, Robin Hood, Robin Hood Riding Through the Glen and many others on it.

Chestnut Fri 13-Jan-23 09:14:25

If you search on Amazon for 'children's favourites CD' under CDs you will find 3 or 4 (vintage) disks with 50 or 100 tracks. They are all there!

Magrithea Fri 13-Jan-23 16:19:08

We had a cassette tape (remember those?!) called Children's Family Favourites and it had 'I'm a Pink Toothbrush', 'My Old Man's a Dustman' (my favourite) and 'A Windmill in Old Amsterdam' among others - we knew all the words!!

silverlining48 Fri 13-Jan-23 16:43:29

The weird thing is I can still sing along with almost all the songs mentioned.
YET why can’t I remember what I did a day or two ago. ?

silverlining48 Fri 13-Jan-23 16:44:47

Cassette Mahgritha? I remember 33s ! grin

Chocolatelovinggran Fri 13-Jan-23 16:45:07

Lots of these featured regularly in my infant classroom and I've just taught Chick chick chick chicken ( lay a little egg for me) to my youngest grandchild. There are so many situations which call for a round of There's a Hole in my Bucket, don't you find?

Magrithea Sat 14-Jan-23 11:51:13

silverlining48

The weird thing is I can still sing along with almost all the songs mentioned.
YET why can’t I remember what I did a day or two ago. ?

So do I silverlining48!