Singing a New Technology of Car Riding: Jitney-Bus Songs, 1915-1917

ABSTRACT

Using personal cars for private taxi services gave rise to the jitney bus a century before Uber and Lyft. Songs with titles such as “Take Me Out in a Jitney Bus (and Pose as a Millionaire)” (Ruddy and Garrahan) provide a body of sheet music on a cultural issue of the early twentieth century that has striking similarities to issues in the early twenty-first century. In this way, they provide insights into how ideas, tropes, and memes are circulated in both eras and demonstrate a parallel communicative function between early sheet music and today’s social media.

KEYWORDS:

• 1910-1920
• Ford Model T
• jitney bus
• Lyft
• sheet music
• Uber

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Sheet Music and Scores

The printed music for most songs is available from a variety of online sources including:

Sam DeVincent, Starr, and INHarmony Sheet Music Collections at Indiana University (http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/collections/sheetmusic.shtml)

Charles H. Templeton Digital Collections at Mississippi State University (http://lib.msstate.edu/digitalcollections/templeton/)

Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection at John Hopkins University (https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/)

Sheet Music Consortium at the University of California, Los Angeles (http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/sheetmusic/).

Printed songs and manuscripts only available at the Library of Congress include the copyright registration numbers for reference (an E followed by a six-digit number).

(MS) indicates an unpublished manuscript.

Andino, J.E., and Eva Cofer. “A Moonlight Jitney Ride.” 1915. E 374573. (MS)

Andino, J.E., and H. Franklin Hippenstiel. “Take the Jitney.” 1915. E 373474. (MS)

Andino, J.E., and Gordon MacLean. “When You Do the Jitney Dip.” 1916. E 377871. (MS)

Andino, J.E., and Charles J. Ostrander. “Come Take a Trip in My Jitney.” 1916. E 376970. (MS)

Andino, J.E., and Emma K. Randall. “Oh! It’s the Jitney Style.” 1915. E 371192. (MS)

Austin, Joe, and Ida Carlson. “A Jitney Ride.” Washington, DC: Marks-Goldsmith, 1915. E 374316.

Austin, Joe, and May Dalhoff. “The Ford and the Jitney Bus.” Washington, DC: Marks-Goldsmith, 1915. E 374385.

Bergin, Mary Riesenman. “Riding in the Jitney Bus.” Meadville, PA: Mary Riesenman Bergin, 1915. E 361577.

Berube, Al, and Charles S. Pecker. “All Aboard for That Old Jitney Ride.” Haverhill, MA: Pecker and Berube, 1915.

Boyle, Edward I. “A Ride in a Jitney for Mine.” Worcester, MA: Edward I. Boyle, 1915.

Brin: Bernard. “Jitney Bus Rag.” Arranged by R. V. Knuppe. Seattle: Pacific Music House, 1915.

Cabello, Fred L. “Come with Me in a Jitney Car.” El Paso, TX: Fred. L. Cabello, 1915. E 361169.

Carey, Joseph B. “Father Is Driving a Jitney Bus.” Arranged by Harry Held. San Francisco: Buell Music, 1915.

Clements, Bernise G., and Paul A. Lewis. “The Jitney Ball.” 1916. E 391453. (MS)

Conover, J. Arthur. “S-Jitney Bill.” Kansas City, MO: Conover & Sperry, 1915.

Converse, Frederick Shepherd. Flivver Ten Million: A Joyous Epic for Orchestra. Boston: Birchard, 1927.

Coots, Fred J., and Ray Sherwood. “Mister Ford, You Have the Right Idea.” New York: Stasny Music, 1916.

Donaldson, Walter, and Howard Johnson. “You’d Never Know That Old Home Town of Mine.” New York: Leo Feist, 1915.

Donovan, Walter, Frank Corbett, and Sam Sheppard. “Hop a Jitney with Me.” New York: Broadway Music, 1915.

Durand, Hampton, and Casper Nathan. “Dancing the Jitney Hop.” Chicago: Craig and Company, 1915.

Edwards, Gus, and Vincent Bryan. “In My Merry Oldsmobile: Waltz Song.” New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1905.

Emrose, Philip, and J.M. Kenney. “That Jaunty Jitney Bus.” Omaha: Alpha Publishing, 1915.

Frost, Jack. “I Didn’t Raise My Ford to Be a Jitney.” Chicago: Frank Root, 1915.

Gaskill, Clarence, and Seymour Brown. “Mister Whitney’s Little Jitney Bus.” New York: Jerome H. Remick, 1915.

Gay, Byron. “It’s a Rambling Flivver.” San Francisco: Charles N. Daniels, 1917.

Gay, Byron, and Charley Brown. “Gasoline Gus and His Jitney Bus.” Los Angles: W. A. Quincke, 1915.

Gillespie, Haven, and The Leightons. “Jitney Jim.” Chicago: Tell Taylor, 1915.

Haines, Chauncey, and Elmer J. Whipple. “Take a Ride in a Jitney Bus.” Los Angeles: Haines Publishing Co., 1915. E 359602.

Heil, Carl R., and R. Vigil. “The Jitney Bus.” Washington, DC: Marks-Goldsmith, 1915. E 374229.

Hendon, Frank. “You Tell It, or Jitney Bus Joy.” Indianapolis: Frank Hendon, 1915.

Hosmer, Fred L. “Hello Jitney.” 1915. E 361792. (MS)

Hubbell, Raymond, and Gene Buck. “Auto Girls Song.” New York: T. B. Harms & Francis, Day & Hunter, 1917.

Huntington, E. S. S., and E. V. Cardin. “We Are All Going to Heaven in a Jitney Bus.” 1916. E 382748. (MS)

Ingraham, Roy, and Edith Maida Lessing. “The Jitney Bus.” Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1915.

Irving, Herbert. “It’s the Jitney Bus for Me.” 1915. E 3615929. (MS)

Jahnke, William G. “My Little Jitney Girl.” Chicago: Al-A-Mo Music Publishers, 1916.

Judge, Jack, and Harry Williams. “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” New York and Toronto: Chappell, 1912.

Kocian, Howard, and Theodore B. White. “I Want to Ride in a Jitney Bus.” St. Louis: Buck and Lowney, 1915.

Madin, George H., and J. J. Gallagher. “My Good Old Jitney Bus.” San Francisco: J.J. Gallagher, 1916.

Martin, J.M., and J.W. Martin. “The Jitney Bus.” 1915. E 360703. (MS)

McConnell, George, and David Morrison. “Let’s Take a Ride on the Jitney Bus.” Philadelphia: O’Donnell & Morrison, 1915.

Mellinger, Edward J., and Elmer J. Yoch. “That St. Louis Jitney Bus: That Busted Bus.” St. Louis: Mellinger Music, 1915. E 364759.

Monaco, Jimmie V., and Grant Clarke. “What If George Washington’s Mother Had Said: I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier.” New York: Leo Feist, 1915.

Nunaville, Frank, and Thomas J. Morrow. “In a Jitney Car with You.” Philadelphia: Morrow and Nunaville, 1915. E 365463.

O’Keefe, Walter. “Henry’s Made a Lady Out of Lizzie.” New York: De Sylva, Brown, and Henderson, 1928.

Paley, Herman, and Charles McCarron. “I Didn’t Raise My Dog to Be a Sausage.” New York: Jerome H. Remick, 1915.

Piantadosi, Al, and Alfred Bryan. “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier.” New York: Leo Feist, 1915.

Platzmann, Eugene, and Happy Mack. “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Slacker.” New York: Haviland, 1917.

Polak, Emil J., and Orville Harrold. “Come and Jitney Me Home.” 1915. E 359830. (MS)

Ruddy, Charles, and Joe Garrahan. “Take Me Out in a Jitney Bus (and Pose as a Millionaire).” Providence, RI: Eastern Music, 1915.

Smith, Robt. B., and Harry T. MacConnell. “My Mobile Girl.” New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1900.

Stamper, Dave, Billy Rose, and Ballard Macdonald. “Since Henry Ford Apologized to Me.” New York: Shapiro, Bernstein, and Co., 1927.

Stanford, Mitchell, and Florence L. M. Pratt. “When I Rode with Gus in a Jitney Bus.” St. Louis: Mellinger Music, 1915. E 370574.

Thatcher, James W. “Come Take a Jitney with Me.” Arranged by Harry Heald. Hartford, CT, and New York: Thatcher Publishing, 1915. E 361731.

Von Tilzer, Harry, Eddie Moran, and Andrew B. Sterling. “You’re a Good Car, But You Can’t Climb Hills.” New York: Harry Von Tilzer Music, 1921.

Zickel, Henry H. “The Ford March and Two Step.” Detroit: Ford Motor Company, 1908.

Filmography

A Jitney Elopement. Directed by Charles Chaplin. USA. 1915.

Recorded Songs and Music

“Gucci Mane.” Written and recorded by Felipe. The Only One. USA. Genius Elliston. 2017. https://www.discogs.com/release/10481548-Felipe-The-Only-One.

“Uber Everywhere.” Written and recorded by MadeinTYO. USA. Private Club Records. 2016. https://www.discogs.com/Madeintyo-Uber-Everywhere/release/8493508.

Notes

1. The Jitney Bus was published under that title for five monthly issues from April to August 1915. The name of the publication was then changed to The Motor Bus. The last issue was dated July 2016.

2. Such websites include the Sam DeVincent, Starr, and INHarmony Sheet Music Collections at Indiana University; the Charles H. Templeton Digital Collections at Mississippi State University; the Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection at John Hopkins University; and the Sheet Music Consortium at the University of California, Los Angeles.

3. The song “Uber Everywhere” is based on a beat by K. Swisha, titled “Uber.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

C. Matthew Balensuela

C. Matthew Balensuela Earlier versions of this paper were presented to the PCA/ACA (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association) National Conference and to the Midwest Chapter of the American Musicological Society. The author wishes to thank the many people who helped in the development of this paper, including Andrew Bobker, Kerry Jennings, Amanda Hopson, Keith Knightenhessler, Thomas J. Mathiesen, Patrick Warfiled, Sylvia Yang, and the staff of the Music Division of the Library of Congress, especially Cait Miller (Music Reference Specialist).