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Billboard Song

The Tune: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Lyrics:

Version 1
As I was walking down the street a billboard caught my eye.
The advertising that was there would make you laugh or cry.
The wind and rain had almost washed that old billboard away.
But the advertising painted there would have that billboard say:

Have a smoke of Coca-Cola. Chew catsup cigarette's.
Watch Lillian Russell wrestle with a box of oysterettes.
Pork and beans will meet tonight in a finish fight.
Hear Chauncey DePeeuw speak upon sapolio tonight.

Bay rum is good for horses; it is the best in town.
Castoria cures the measles, if you pay ten dollars down.
Teeth extracted without pain, a nickel or half a dime.
Ingersolls are selling now, a little behind the times.

Chew Wrigleys for that headache. Eat Campbells for that cough.
There's going to be a swimming bee at the village watering trough.
Buy a case of ginger-ale, it makes the best of broth.
Shinola's good to curl the hair, it will not rub it off!

Version 2
As I was walking down the street one dark and gloomy day
I came upon a billboard and much to my dismay
The sign was torn and tattered from the storm the night before
The wind and rain had done it's work and this is what I saw:

Smoke Coca-Cola cigarettes, chew Wrigley's Spearmint beer,
Ken-L Ration Dog Food keeps your wife's complexion clear
Simonize your baby with a Hershey's candy bar
And Texaco's the beauty cream that's used by all the stars.

So take your next vacation in a brand new Frigidaire
Learn to play the piano in your winter underwear
Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're three
And people over 65 should bathe in Lipton Tea.

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Comments:

Apr 21, 2014 - Judith Oden

I'm in the clinic, and Daddy happens to be here. I copied this and gave it to him. He got a big kick out of it, it's the first time he has ever seen the words written down. Granmomie taught him the song. thanks again, mom

Sep 30, 2014 - Bobbi Danforth

I have been looking for the lyrics' of this for years! My Mom who worked in an ammo plant during WWII would sing part of it but I only remembered the first couple of lines. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Sep 30, 2014 - Harriet Soukup

I used to sing this as a girl, but I couldn't remember all the words. Thank you.

Jun 18, 2015 - Kyle Meenan

Our version from Mattatuck BSA Camp in Connecticut c.1960s

As I was walking down the street a billboard caught my eye
The sign on this billboard would make you laugh and cry!
--It seems we had a hard rainstorm --washed half the sign away
The other half remaining, made this poor billboard say:
Smoke a Coca-Cola, Tomato ketchup cigarettes
Watch Eleanor Roosevelt wrestle, with a box of castanets
Use Ivory soap for toothpaste... chew Wrigley's rubber boots
For Tony Galento, wears Union Tobacco suits! Hey-Hey!

Aug 03, 2015 - Margaret Davis

I have been looking for this song for years! My mother used to sing it to us, she learned it at Y Camp as a girl and loved singing it, well a version of this anyway. I have discovered there are many versions of this song in my search!
Thank you for posting this website. It is nice to be able to find the old songs my mother sang, so that I can try to pass them on to my grandchildren.

Nov 02, 2015 - Ellen McFadden

Thank you for posting the lyrics to the Billboard Song. My grandmother sang it to me when I was little and I remembered some, but not all, of the lyrics. Now I can pass the song along to my granddaughter so the song will live for another generation!

Feb 09, 2016 - Meg Hinterlang

I had forgotten all about this camp song--I learned the lyrics rather differently, but the fun was the same!

Apr 06, 2016 - Larry Bowman

The version I sang as a child - taught to me by my mother was as follows:
Come smoke a coca cola, come eat a cigarette,
Watch Lee and Russell wrestle with a box of Quaker Oats,
Pork and beans will meet tonight at the finish fight,
John Spraque Electric has polio tonight,
Teeth extracted without pain it only cost a dime,
come pour molasses on the old last summer's hat.

Apr 17, 2016 - Sue

My dad sang this song to me many years ago! I remembered the tune but not all the words.. So fun to see other people remember it too!

Apr 23, 2016 - Gwen Blesch

I started singing today, so thought I would research. This is best web site for it. Doesn't matter if we have correct lyrics, I think it is ok however one has learned it. Dusty old things are so much fun!

Jul 20, 2016 - Judy Horvath

I have been trying to remember the words for a long time. I am 76 and my mother used to sing it to me when I was a child. Version 1 is pretty much as I remember it, except Lillian Russell wrestled with a box of castinetts. Thanks. My husband always gives me strange looks when I try to remember the words.

Apr 28, 2017 - Jonny

My family sang this version:
"Come smoke a coca cola, drink pepsi cigarettes
Watch lillian russell wrestle a plate of crepe suzettes
Pork and beans are here in town and in a finish fight
If you want sone entertainment eat an oreo tonight
DDTs the best motel, let colgate do your work
Let the man who wears one bring home a dirty shirt
Do you have a ferry in your house, if not, why not now?
Brush your teeth with gasoline, the directions show you how."

Anyone else out there know this version?

Jul 06, 2017 - Aysh

I'm 40 and learned this when 12 at an all girls school. Version 2 is spot on but it ended like this:
T I something something
Cheer Washington Schneiders???!?!
Try it and see!

Anyone know these last 3 lines correctly?

Jul 08, 2017 - Vince M

Version 2 is more-or-less what I learned back in high school in the '80s.

Two things:

1) I learned an alternate last couple of lines:

Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're nine
And people over 65 should bathe in turpentine.

2) I thought I'd offer a modernized verse:

Play Powerball Home Mortgage, eat a Terminix buffet.
Cracker Barrel iPhones taste like a Milky Way.
Yaz and Oxycontin make your carbon footprint green.
And Google Fibre's what you need to keep your colon clean.

Jul 12, 2017 - Susan Shelley Leeper

My mother who was born in 1901, sang this to us in the 40s and 50s. I remember it was Lillian Russell rassle with a box of cascarettes (laxatives) I remember the Chauncy de Pew. I was so sorry I didn't get it written down while was was alive. I can only remember some of the tune. So glad to find it now.

Sep 20, 2017 - Janet Bauer

Billboard Song
As I was walking down the street a billboard caught my eye
The advertisements written there would make you laugh and cry
The wind and rain had come that day and washed that sign away
Till what was left upon that board would make that billboard say:
Come smoke a Coca-cola, chew ketchup cigarettes
See Lillian Russell wrestle with a box of Oysterettes
Good pork and beans will meet tonight to have a finish fight
Chauncey Depew will lecture on sepolio tonight
Bay rum is good for horses; it is the best in town
Castoria cures the measles, if you pay five dollars down
False teeth extracted without pain, the cost of half a dime
Overcoats are selling now a little out of time
Chew Wrigleys for that headache, take Campbell’s for that cough
There’s going to be a swimming meet in the village watering trough
Buy a case of ginger ale; it makes the best of broth
Shinolas sure to curl the hair and not to take it off
Bumm diddy ada, bing bing

This song was taught to me by my father Robert W Lundquist, Born in 1924 – He worked 50+ years with the Boy Scouts of America from which he retired in 1998. His father taught the song to him (Robert C Lundquist) who also was a professional in the BSA his entire working life.

The Tune was NOT Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, that melody came to be much later.

Dec 11, 2017 - Lynn Allison

I heard this song at the Camp Fire Girls' Camp Dekanawida in West Virginia years ago, as follows:
As I was walking down the street a billboard met my eye
The advertisements written there would make one laugh and cry
The rain and snow had almost washed that old billboard away
And the advertisements written there would make that billboard say
Come smoke a CocaCola, drink ketchup cigarettes
See Lillian Russel wrestle with a box of casterets
Pork and beans will meet tonight at the far-off village fight
John Brown will speak about some polio tonight
Urea for the horses, it is the best in town
Castoria for the measles, you pay ten dollars down
Teeth extracted without pay for the price of half a dime
Overcoats are selling out, a little out of time
Bon Ami for the freckles, it doesn't cost a cent
Jello makes your windows shine, and hair as violets
Cream of wheat will cure that corn and this will make you fat
Come pour molasses on the old last summer's hat

Feb 03, 2018 - Nancy Werhinfton

Mine version is almost the same the last 3 lines are If you could make this country,,a better place today, just buy a record of this song and throw it fur away T I E D tied

Mar 01, 2018 - Wendy

The one I remember is almost exactly like your "Version 2", except it's missing the trailing (much slower) 'end phrase':
"... with flo-thru teabags..."
:)

May 18, 2018 - Hazel R Carr

My friends's mother taught a group of us girls this song back in the 1940's. I thought she had helped make it up... had no idea that it was actually nationally known...Thanks for the additional verses we didn't have. I'm 85 (writing this 5/18/18) and enjoy older things..such as "A boy stood on the burning deck, his feet were full of blisters. He fell and tore is Sunday pants and had to wear his sisters. Have fun and give away smiles, they're free.

May 25, 2018 - George Rhinebeck

I only heard this song once at a Boy scout campfire - Must have been 1948kf4kf9w. I have remembered some of if but have been searching for it for a long time (I'm now 83) thanks to all who have taken the time to list so many versions of the song!

Aug 26, 2018 - Yvonne McCullar

Thanks so much for the words to this song. Never dreamed I could type in the words, "As I was walking down the street a billboard caught my eye", and have the entire song come up. Learned this when I was about 12 and could not renember the words to sing it for my 9 year old grandson, who is a Cub Scout Webelo. I am now 71. Thanks so much for this wonderful post. My version was a combinatiin of 1, 2, and parts of the others. Thanks, again! Now, I can finally sing the song again!

May 15, 2019 - Deanne

Every so often, the billboard song comes into my mind. Today I decided to see if I could fill in some of the words (and maybe verses) I can’t remember, and I found this site. My mom used to sing this song to us when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. The words here are recognizable, but quite different from what my mom used to sing. When I saw how different, I quickly jotted down all I could remember so I wouldn’t get it mixed up after reading other versions. This is what we learned (southern Vermont version):

As I was walking down the street, a billboard met my eye.
The advertisements on that board, would make one laugh and cry.
The rain and hail that came that night, washed it half away.
The other half, remaining there, just made that billboard say...

Smoke a Coca Cola. Drink ketchup cigarettes.
See Lillian Russell wrestle with a box of oysterettes
Pork and beans will meet tonight in the finish fight
Professor Smith will lecture on some oleo tonight

Bay rum is good for horses. It is the best in town
Castor oil cures the measles. Just pay five dollars down.
Teeth extracted without pain, costs but half a dime.
BVDs are selling now, a carload at a time.

I realize that due to not knowing all the meanings, I probably filled in some syllables or words. For example, my mom actually sang something that sounded like “castor-ee-oil” which I thought was a funny pronunciation of castor oil, but must be Castoria.

Sep 25, 2019 - Al hergott

Funny how we all have our own versions we learned from our grandparents

Nov 16, 2020 - JOANNA L MYHR-ARRISON

GREAT SONG! GLAD SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE IT
I learned different melody in the early 60's. My lyrics were closest to what May 15, 2019 - Deanne wrote.

Tune for those of you who know solfege:
mi mi do do .la .la .so; mi mi do do .la .ti; fa fa re re .ti .ti .la; .la .so re do re mi; mi do do .la .la .so .so; do do re do .la; .ti .ti .ti .ti .ti .la .so .so la ti do

Here are the few lyric changes I grew up with...

As I was walking down the street, a billboard met my eye.
The advertisements written there, would make you laugh and cry.
The rain and hail had come that day and washed it half away.
And what was left upon that sign would make that billboard say...

Come Smoke a Coca Cola. Chew ketchup cigarettes.
See Shirley Temple wrestle with a box of oysterettes
Pork and beans will meet tonight in a finish fight
Baby Ruth will lecture on sapolio tonight.

Bay rum is good for horses. It is the best in town
Castoria cures the measles. If you pay five dollars down.
Teeth extracted without pain, for a half a dime.
Ingersolls are selling a little out of time.

Chew Wrigley's for that headache. Take Campbell's for that cough.
There's going to be a swimming meet in the village water trough.
Buy a case of Ginger Ale it makes the best of broth.
Shinola's sure to curl the hair and not to take it off.

Oh, ish kada vish kada vish koompa
oompa oompa oompa pa
Ish kada vish kada vish koompa
oompa oompa oompa pa. ISH!!
(Mi....

: do do do do do do do .so .so
.la .so .la .ti do do do :

shout

Dec 31, 2020 - Kim

My father used to sing, "Jello makes your windows shine." I don't remember if that was all he sang, but that line has stuck with me, lo, some fifty years after his death. The phase has tickled my mind for years. Was it a strange advertising jingle or what? Typing the phrase into a search engine brought up some articles about the etymology of the brand name (which we used as a generic, to include Royal brand flavored gelatin), but not the jingle. So, I tried putting it between quotation marks. Bingo! This was the only hit that came up (a rare thing these days). Thank you.

Apr 23, 2021 - spope

We sang the second version in school growing up. There were a few differences but one line was very different and it fits better because it rhymes.

As I was walking down the street one dark and DREARY day
I came upon a billboard and much to my dismay
The sign was torn and tattered from the RAIN the night before
BUT CLEARLY I COULD FIGURE OUT THE MESSAGE THAT IT BORE:

Smoke Coca-Cola cigarettes, chew Wrigley's Spearmint beer,
Ken-L Ration Dog Food keeps your wife's complexion clear
Simonize your baby with a Hershey's candy bar
And Texaco's the beauty cream that's used by EVERY star.

So take your next vacation in a brand new Frigidaire
Learn to play the piano in your winter underwear
Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're three
And people over 65 should bathe in Lipton Tea.
T-I-D, CHEERS!

Feb 27, 2022 - T.A.

My version is a little different. I’m 87 As I was walking down the street a billboard met my eye the advertising section would make you laugh and cry the rain the night the day before tore half that sign away The other half remaining would make that billboard say. Come smoke a Coca-Cola, Tomato catsup cigarettes See Lillian Russell wrestle with a plate of crepe Suzette’s Ham Pork and Beans will meet again In a finish fight And silent Joe will talk about some Polio tonight Oh, DDT is the best Hotel, let Colgate do your work Ask the man who owns one take home a dirty shirt Have you a Fairy in your home, eventually why not now Clean your teeth with gasoline, the directions tell you how So nice to find out there are many other versions

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