1917 Song – You ought to see the little garden in our back yard

Song written in 1917
Composer: Brockman, James, 1886-1967
Lyrics: Jeff Branen

Out in our town everybody there,
Even tho the Mayor tries to do his share
Teachers, Preachers, digging everywhere
We’re as busy as can be
One old soldier close to ninety three,
With a shovel on his shoulder said to me.

I’ve been told I’m going to propose,
To a girl named Rose Little turnip nose,
Radish hair and freckles, I suppose,
I have bought a carrot ring.
Rosie, Rosie,
Just the proper thing,
I can cauliflower to breakfast, lettuce sing.

You ought to see the little garden in our back yard,
It’s like a farm in Illionis
With turnips and tomatoes
Cabbage and potatoes ‘Twould fill your little heart with joy
The boys are figthing in the trenches you know what that means
That’s why I’m working mighty hard
I’m goin’ to raise a little army of “Navy beans”
In our backyard.

Chorus 2
You ought to see the little garden in our back yard,
It’s where the old barn used to stand
The cows are in the kitchen
All of us are itchin’
To cultivate that strip of land
The prices going going up is the groc’ry man’s yarn
But really I don’t give a darn
We’ve got a bushel of potatoes but no more barn,
In our back yard.

See all of the song’s sheet music here.

From Wikipedia:

James Brockman (December 8, 1886 – May 22, 1967) was an American songwriter. Born in Russia, he immigrated to New York by himself at the age of 9 or 10. His given name was Jacob Brachman but he changed the spelling of the last name because it was mis-pronounced and the rest of the family followed with the change.

Brockman began his career as a comedian in vaudeville and musicals in the early 1900s. He was a partner, along with James Kendis, of the Kendis-Brockman Music Company. In 1919, he was a co-writer of the song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles”, which years later would become the anthem of the English football (soccer) club West Ham United. He also co-wrote, with Abe Olman, the song “Down Among The Sheltering Palms”, published in 1914 and popularized by the Boswell Sisters in the late 1920s.

He went on to work in Hollywood as a songwriter for films, and wrote the score for Happy Days in 1930. He died in Santa Monica, California in May 1967, aged 80, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.