From the musical “Mary Jane McKane”, 1923
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II and Wm. Cary Duncan
Music by Vincent Youmans
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Oh, I wish I lived long, long ago
When a girl could cook and bake and sew
When a girl had sense of modesty and shame
When they rolled their sox above the knee
And they had no lacy lingerie
In the day when every woman was a lady
Refrain
Take me, take me back to the day
Of the flannel petticoat gal
Simple, sweet and pure was the way
Of the flannel petticoat gal
No weak, slight thing
Strong and hale and hearty
Just the right thing for a chowder party
When you kissed her
You didn’t taste any paint upon her lips
You could put your arm ’round a waist
In the days when “hips were hips”
Those sweet mammas
Wore no crepe dechine pajamas
Take me, take me back to the day
Of the flannel petticoat gal
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: