When: annually, July 10.
Every year, 10 July is a good time to picnic with your teddy bear. You do this during Teddy Bear Picnic Day.
The day is said to reference something that exists, but with which you may place some question marks. We are talking about the song “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” by John W. Bratton. This has everything to do with how this song came about. There are also some questions about the content of the song. Is it a children’s song?
Judging from what you read on the internet, Teddybear Picnic Day on 10 July is a day when you go on a picnic with your teddy bear. You do this about something that exists: “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic” from 1907. In that year, it is said to have been John Walter Bratton (21 January 1867 – 7 February 1947) who composed the tune. It was then James (“Jimmy”) Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) who wrote the lyrics in 1932. It was originally intended simply as piano music and recorded as such.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
First shots
The first recording of Teddy Bears’ Picnic with vocals dates from 1932. We can thank Henry Hall (2 May 1898 – 28 October 1989) and his orchestra for this. The voice you hear is that of Valerian (“Val”) Rosing (exact dates of birth are unknown, but presumably 1910 – 1969). The recordings were commissioned by BBC Radio.
More famous were the performances that followed. For example, the 1950 performance by Bing Crosby (3 May 1903 – 14 October 1977):
Children's song
The big question is whether it is a ‘real’ children’s song. If you listen carefully to the lyrics, you will notice that there is a warning included in the lyrics. It all seems very fun, teddy bears having a party (picnic) in the forest. Yet children should think about wandering into the forest themselves.
It all starts quite innocently. When you go to the forest, you might be weirdly surprised by those teddy bears present there. Only in the first paragraph, there is no mention at all of the presence of teddy bears in the forest. It does, however, issue a warning: “You’d better go in disguise!” Why would you want to? That answer is not given anywhere.
In the forest, the little teddy bears entertain themselves by playing and, of course, picnicking. Until it is six o’clock. Then their mums and dads take the little teddy bears home. Are those mums and dads teddy bears or not? That, of course, is the big question. That makes the song just a little more mysterious. It could be, of course, but maybe not. What is clear, seeing the teddy bears during the picnic is only possible by secretly watching them. Only then can you see it. Then the little ones play under the trees, where no one sees them. Until six o’clock, then the day is over.
Teddy Bear’s Picnic
If you go down in the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise
If you go down in the woods today
You’d better go in disguise!
For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic
Picnic time for Teddy Bears
The little Teddy Bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday
See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout
They never have any cares
At six o’clock their Mommies and Daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they’re tired little Teddy Bears
Every Teddy Bear who’s been good is sure of a treat today
There’s lots of marvelous things to eat and wonderful games to play
Beneath the trees where nobody sees
They’ll hide and seek as long as they please
‘Cause that’s the way the Teddy Bears have their picnic
Picnic time for Teddy Bears
The little Teddy Bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares
And see them picnic on their holiday
See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout
They never have any cares
At six o’clock their Mommies and Daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they’re tired little Teddy Bears
Because they’re tired little Teddy Bears
Which version?
Although all the attention is on Bratton’s version and Hall’s lyrics, it is good to know that there is more to report on the teddy bears’ picnic. Thus, there is not one song with this name. Everything is traceable to US President Theodore Roosevelt (27 October 1858 – January 6 1919) and the reference to his nickname (Teedie as a nickname during his childhood, later Teddy). You can read more about it via this website.
For the record, the original name of Bratton’s song was actually ” Teddy Bear Two-Step.” That name was later replaced by the one we know today. Earlier, you read that Jimmy Kennedy would have been responsible for the song’s lyrics. Only that was in 1932.
Another name that is important in this case is that of Edith Harrhy (1893-1969). She moved to Australia from England, but before that, she studied at the Guildhall School of Music. In Australia, she made a name for herself as a lyricist and composer of mainly children’s songs. Using the pseudonym Ethel Wood, she wrote the lyrics for the song. Only the title is missing the apostrophe and so the title became “The Teddy Bears Picnic.” This is evident from this document, which can be found in The National Library of Australia. The document shows the year of 1907. That is just not the year Harrhy came up with the text. This is the year in which Bratton and M. Witmark & Sons recorded something.
Which brings us to a possible musical conflict between Bratton and M. Witmark & Sons. Or yet maybe not? Who is now the actual composer? Before answers can be given, it is worth noting that the lyrics differ from those we know from, say, the BBC version. It is fair to say that this is a very local version. For example, the song features possums and kangaroos. These animals are not found in the United States, where Bratton lived. Moreover, in the second part they dance and play together in an almost ritualistic way. Actually, Harrhy’s song is an even bigger warning than the one we know: just stay away from the woods when the teddy bears are having a picnic there!
Source: The National Library of Australia (Direct link).
Indication of year
So what about a possible musical dispute. Was it Bratton or M. Witmark? Who is this Witmark and how did it ‘suddenly’ get in? Simple, M. Witmark & Sons was the name of the sheet music publisher. This company was founded in 1896. So the entry MCMVII, so the ‘Roman year’ is 1907. That Harrhy made her own version of it in 1939 does not make this the oldest version, as there is no year mentioned in the document that indicates her version. That at the bottom of the text there is the entry “Words copyright, 1939 by Allan & Co. Pty Lt. Melbourne” is mentioned has to do with the publication. It was published by a Melbourne-based company in 1939.
There are other versions in circulation, for instance Warwick Williams’ version of 11 August 1909 or Robert Mahood’s version – made for banjo – from 1908. Only these are all versions without lyrics. Even the version Thomas Edison (11 February 1847 – 18 October 1931) had recorded on a gramophone record is not the oldest version. This version is from 1908.
Innocent, right?
Of course, you can assume the worst when you start analysing the song. There are indeed more nursery rhymes that contain quite heavy lyrics or sometimes contain hidden messages. Whether it is actually a nursery rhyme can be disputed, because the period in which these kinds of poems and songs were released actually started from the late 16th century and lasted until the end of the 19th century. You have to place the time when nursery rhymes (in Dutch, by the way, simply baker rhymes or lullabies) were popular in the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century. At least, in English-speaking countries. That is not to say that nothing more was produced in this genre after that.
Was it all perhaps innocent? Of course, it could just be. No deeper message or meaning. It could just be that it is a beautiful song written by Kennedy to give children a sense of magic. That there could be a moment when stuffed animals and especially teddy bears could come to life. What child hasn’t thought about that?
Teddy bear picnic day doesn’t have to be anything scary of course. Let’s face it, it’s cute, of course. Picnicking with a teddy bear! Or, if there is no teddy bear present, I suppose it could be another stuffed animal. Let’s face it: not everyone has a teddy bear.
Links
- Songfacts: The Teddy Bears Picnic by Henry Hall
- The National Library of Australia – The teddy bears picnic [music] : characteristic march with words / by John W. Bratton
- The Library of Congress Presents the Songs of America: “The Teddy Bear’s Picnic”
- Library of Congress: Sheet Music of the Week: Summer Picnic Edition
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: Victor matrix B-6405…
- British Library – ” The Teddy Bears Picnic”
- Australian Dictionary of Biography: Harrhy, Edith Mary (1893–1969)
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