In Eighteen Sixty-one

From the production “Up and Down Broadway”, 1910
Words by Junie McCree
Music by Albert Von Tilzer

The sheet music:

In Eighteen Sixty-one – Sheet MusicDownload

Lyrics

  1. Some famous men have lived here
    Since this century began
    And sometimes now
    You can point to an honest man
    In olden times the grafters
    They were few and far between
    But now in every business they are seen
    Our greatest men have occupied
    The Presidential chair
    The honored goal is there
    For those upright and square
    Each man of late that in the Hall of Fame
    A niche has won
    Compare him with the men of “sixty-one”

Chorus
But things have really changed a lot
Since eighteen sixty-one
And many heroes since that time
Have lived in Washington
Their honor no one can attack
And Roosevelt is a crackerjack
But they could point to Lincoln
Back in eighteen sixty-one

  1. The stage is not the same today
    As fifty years ago
    In wealth it seems to grow
    In art it’s far below
    Instead of comic operas now
    We have a big review
    Where stars have just a little bit to do
    The chorus girls and chorus boys
    Are not the same old kind
    Whose voices brought to mind
    A joy most unconfined
    The man who manages the stage today
    In some big show
    Has methods not used fifty years ago

Chorus
But things have really changed a lot
Since eighteen sixty-one
The farces they played then
Had just the purest kind of fun
No lines that made the critics scoff
No plays that should be taken off
They had no girls with whooping cough
In eighteen sixty-one

  1. They had athletic games in “sixty one”
    Just like today
    But in a different way
    The games they used to play
    Their running wrestling, coxing, jumping
    Sports were in their prime
    But every sport advanced along with time
    The racing of their thoroughbreds
    Was then a great event
    A holiday was spent in pleasure all content
    Their cricket matches drew the crowds
    Lacrosse had quite a call
    They also played peculiar kind of ball

Chorus
But things have really changed a lot
Since eighteen sixty-one
They had no baseball pitchers then
Like Christy Mathewson
No men with speed like Cobb and Chase
Or Lajoie at second base
No Wagner’s bat to set the pace
In eighteen sixty-one