Monday 1 June 2009
Tune of the Day: Turkey in the Straw
aka “Old Zip Coon”
This is a well-known American folk song dating from the early 19th century. The tune was first popularized in the late 1820s and early 1830s by blackface performers.
“Turkey in the Straw” is still popular today among street fiddlers and ice cream trucks. It can also be heard in many movie sound tracks; the song was already in the public domain by the start of sound film, so it was extensively used. In animated cartoons it is commonly used for suggesting farms or rural life, or old fashioned country people. Perhaps the first use of the tune in an animated cartoon soundtrack was in Steamboat Willie (the first sound cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse).