Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: oh you kid

An amusing postcard that draws upon the "Oh You Kid!" craze of 1909 for its humor. This card was a bit risqué for its time, suggesting that a husband might fool around with other women while his wife is away. The caption on the card comes from the song, " My Wife’s Gone to the Country! Hurrah! Hurrah! ,” which was one of the "Oh You Kid!" songs published as sheet music in 1909: My wife’s gone to the country, hurray! hurray! She thought it best "I need the rest" That’s why she went away She took the children with her, hurray! hurray! I love my wife, but oh, you kid! My wife’s gone away In this age of social media, it's difficult to appreciate just how popular this--nudge, nudge, wink, wink--idea of "I love my wife, but oh, you kid!" became as it circulated in print through sheet music, postcards, and newspapers. Jody Rosen, however, documents its wide-ranging influence in a fascinating article that appeared in Slate magazine. See " How a Sexed-up Viral Hit from the Summer of '09–1909–Changed American Pop Music Forever ." For some additional postcard and sheet music examples, see my Oh You Kid! and Its Variants album.

"My Wife's Up in an Airship. Words by Arthur Longbrake. Music by Ed. Edwards. Published by Longbrake & Edwards, 50 N. 8th St., Phila., Pa. Miss Camp." Handwritten: "Jane H. Banks. J.H.N., 7-22, 1911." An amusing sheet music cover featuring an early airplane (" airship " referred to any type of flying machine in 1911 when this was published, but today the term is used only for dirigibles). It's disappointing, however, to discover that the lyrics of the song (see below) express the "henpecked" husband's spiteful wish that the airplane will take his wife away permanently because "It's my one chance you see / To live here happily." For York University's copy of the sheet music, which includes a PDF version of the inside pages, see My Wife's Up in an Airship (the Web address is an alias that takes you to YorkSpace, York University's digital repository). My Wife's Up in an Airship Words by Arthur Longbrake. Music by Ed. Edwards. Jonesy was a henpecked man For him life was a joke, His wife made him give up his dough She always kept him broke; One day she said I'm going up In an airship for a ride, Then Jones pretended to be scared But he smiled on the side. And when she sailed away Some friends heard Jonesy say, Chorus: My wife's up in an airship Hooray! hip, hip, hooray! I hope she likes the trial trip So much she'll want to stay; For should she stay up in the air Ye ho! my lads, ye ho! With her up there most anywhere I'd have some peace below. Jonesy said I wished her luck When she left mother earth, But if that airship would get stuck I'd give all I am worth; I hope the lad who drives the ship Will attempt a spiral glide, Or land her in the middle of A river three miles wide. It's my one chance you see To live here happily. Chorus

Oh You Lobster! With all your faults tell us why Our love for you, you can't deny. For other lobsters, see To My Valentine, A Lobster I Am and Always Will Be and Oh! You Lobster .

It's somewhat difficult to see, but the caption, "The Kids from Butler, Pa.," is written in gold lettering across the left side of this postcard. Multiple baby cards like this were published in the early twentieth century. Printed on the back: "Serie 1525. United Art Pub. Co., New York." Postmarked Butler, Pa., March 24, 1910, and addressed to Miss Twila Daniels, Clarington, Pa. Unsigned message on back: "I love my wife but O you kid . You know who."

Oh You Chestnut! When is a door not a door? When it's a-jar!! Your ancient ones are welcome. May they never seem new to us. "Chestnut," of course, can refer to an old, stale story or joke. See chestnut (joke) in Wikipedia and old chestnut in Wiktionary. Some nuttiness for the Weird Vintage Postcards group. See also: Oh You Lemon!

"Pickle Dill Etchings. If the earth weighs 200,110,000,000,000,000 pounds, what will the Milkey-way? Oh, you milk maid." This early twentieth-century humorous postcard starts out with a goofy heading, "Pickle Dill Etchings," which may have been used for a series of similar postcards. Below that is a riddling question that turns out to be a silly pun–"What will the Milky Way weigh?" And the exclamation at the bottom of the card–"Oh, you milk maid!"–extends the milk allusion but also refers to a song, "I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife–But Oh! You Kid!," that was all the rage in 1909 (for a discussion of how immensely popular it became, see Jody Rosen's fascinating Slate article," How a Sexed-up Viral Hit from the Summer of '09–1909–Changed American Pop Music Forever "). The "oh you kid" catchphrase also generated many other variations. For additional examples, see Oh You Lemon! , Oh You Chestnut! , and Oh! You Lobster .

"Oh! You Lobster. / It's all very fine to wine and dine / A pretty dear sweet little miss / It looks very swell, but will you tell / How it's done on a salary llike this ($10 per)." This vinegar valentine has been personalized with the initials "F.F." for the man, "J.V." for the woman, and "The Biltmore" hotel as the setting for the wining and dining. The early twentieth-century meaning of "lobster" was similar to today's "sugar daddy." For a similar valentine, see Ye Gilded Boob .

Oh You Lemon! Ripe and juicy, you're all right, In the main squeeze you're out of sight. Lemony, very pretty, yet not too sweet for the Weird Vintage Postcards group. See also: Oh You Chestnut!