Talk:John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

from VfD:
( There was an earlier attempt to propose this page for deletion that was left incomplete)

this page is the coolest ( Old comment - from history  22:27, 20 Aug 2004 216.254.16.162)

So starting again ..... --Cje 08:09, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Delete Not notable - no reason for this to be in Wkipedia --Cje 08:09, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep - A fairly well known nursery rhyme. Smerdis of Tlön 11:36, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep - very well known nursery rhyme. Could use some context and history (it's best labeled a stub at the moment) but I think it's a legitimate piece of American folklore with some odd German overtones. --Fastfission 16:05, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep - well-known and wholly notable Whosyourjudas (talk) 16:08, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Very notable, and needs expansion if anything. [[User:Livajo|&#21147;&#20255;|&#1090;]] 18:36, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep; as above. &#8212; Bill 19:20, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. [[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless | (Methyl Remiss)]] 19:31, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * OK. Clearly its notable - even though I never heard it in my 10 years in America. So I've learned something new. I withdraw my proposal for deletion. Does need expansion though. --Cje 19:38, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * I have tried to expand the page a bit. Smerdis of Tlön 20:19, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Now John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt is no longer a deadend page, which is where this all started. --Cje 21:22, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Valid subject, decent article.   &mdash; Gwalla | Talk 02:04, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. His name is my name too! Mike H 02:32, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, and curse you, Mike H, for doing that joke before I could. &mdash;tregoweth 17:49, Oct 7, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, with Tregoweth's sentiment! --Jerzy(t) 16:46, 2004 Oct 8 (UTC)
 * STOP!, Enough is enough. Clearly I will go down in wikipedian history as "the newby who tried to delete John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" --Cje 19:08, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

end moved discussion

Is this a nursery rhyme?
I removed bits saying it's a nursery rhyme from the article because I don't think it follows the pattern of a typical nursery rhyme. It may technically be one in origin, but I wouldn't expect it to appear in a Mother Goose collection or anything. My specific problems with this classification are the infinite repetition, the "da da da da da da da" at the end, and it doesn't have a "poetic" feel to it (though it does have a rhyming line); none of these are characteristic of nursery rhymes. - furrykef (Talk at me) 15:43, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * Abt origins, i know nothing. But if it's a nursery rhyme, it's the only one i know that's also a summer-camp campfire song. & BTW, i learned with "Pickleheimer" (or "Pickelheimer" FAIK), and "Yah" ("Ja"?) 8 times at the end. And FWIW, my kid Nordic-[ra]dar said "Swedish".
 * --Jerzy·t 16:19 & 16:27, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately I don't have any evidence to back this up but my grandmother had always told me the song was a jingle for a law firm. Which given the names would make sense


 * TVTropes.org refers to this type of song, which also includes "The Song That Never Ends," as a "playground song." ProfessorTofty (talk) 10:36, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Variation
I learned the song as John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith. Is this a common enough variant to be worth noting? --152.7.49.221 02:35, 23 November 2005 (UTC)

When we used to sing this, we started loudly and then get softer--except for the last da-da-da-da-da-da part, which got louder each time until we were practically screaming it. Anybody else do this?

The version I learned is that after the "his name is my name too" line you would say "G-d forbid!" Is this notable? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by The Saxby (talk • contribs).

The version I'm familiar with, as sung in "We Sing Sillyville," has a second line of "That's my name too." This seems to be somewhat less standard, but feels much less awkward to me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mdv6 (talk • contribs) 16:42, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

My family taught me the Smith variation. I always wondered why, as the Schmidt variation was much more common. I recently found out it was because I had to sing the schmidt version in kindergarden for a school play and accidently shouted the S word from the top of my lungs. Is this the reason some people prefer Smith over Schmidt?

How old is the song?
Snyder, Jerry (1985). Children's Songs for Guitar: 100 Songs for Early Childhood ISBN 0769212743 contains the song with the author's arrangement being copyright 1976; the authorship is given as "traditional." Шизомби 21:21, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

According to the Peter, Paul and Mary site, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmitt was on the children's album Camp Songs with 6 to 11 Year Olds (Folkways Scholastic Records SC 7628) in the mid 1950's, an album that included Pete Seeger, Erik Darling and Mary Travers. A discography on a Pete Seeger website dates the album in 1955. Obepan 02:23, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

According to the scnc.pas.k12.mi.us/~pitthist/toc.htm website about Pittsford, Michigan, specifically the page for 1920 to 1929 the song "John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith (Schmitt)" was known in 1920. Obepan 12:24, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

As far as I know
It's from an english learning book and cassete tape set.

I had this book and tape 20 years ago, and sadly i lost them.

Anyway it's actually a story about a new born boy and he's got too many

relatives and every uncles and aunts wanted to name the boy after their

own name, so the parents had to name their child that long name.

Someday the John Jacob boy came across another boy whose name's

also John Jacob Jingle-Heimer Schmidt.

That book had all the texts, lyrics and drawings describing the scenes.

and the tape contained all the stories and songs.

I'm Korean in case if you want to know. and i can't find that book

here anymore. Frankly i'm suprised you never heard of that book.
 * It's a lot older than that. Frankly, I'm surprised you think your book is the original source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.91.173.36 (talk) 17:36, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Origin
Doees anyone have any idea where it first originated? Who was he?

24.6.221.189 00:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Mystery
I believe I know. This ditty is not unlike "Yankee Doodle". It celebrates a Revolutionary War hero. A Pennsylvania Dutchman like me (Dutch is a bastardization of Deutsch = German). His name was John Jacob Mickley. He was one of the officers who brought the Liberty Bell out of Philadelphia to Allentown when the British occupied the city. It was brought in Mickley's wagon at night to be hidden under the floor of the Zion Reformed Luthern Church on Hamilton St. When the british were driven out, the Allentown militia returned the Bell to Philly. I am not sure about the song, but this history is solid. Check with the Lehigh Valley Historical Society. Anecdotally, you can't grow up in Allentown without taking a field trip or two to the church and visiting the Liberty Bell shrine in the basement, complete with a replica Bell.The1zog (talk) 01:26, 5 April 2009 (UTC) The1zog

I learned it from Captain Kangaroo when I was a child in the mid to late 1960s
This is the song as I remember learning it in my pre-teen years (I've probably forgotten a verse or two, and have some of the words wrong, but this is how I remember it):

There was a funny little man who had a funny name And he was very proud of it 'cause no-one elses was the same And then one day he left his town to strike out on his own And met a total stranger a thousand miles from home, Who said:

(Chorus) John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt That's my name too Whenever I go out The people always shout, "Hey! John Jacob Jingleheimer Shmidt, da da da da da da da da"

He took up mountain climbing to scale his way to fame If he were first to reach the top then all would know his name Then finally he reached the top, and sat right down and cried For someone else had beat him, who climbed the other side. He said: (Chorus)

He took an ocean voyage to forget his cares a while The ship was sunk and he was stranded on a desert isle He never saw another soul for many years or more Until he met a native a-walkin' on the shore, Who said: (Chorus)

When he got very old and knew the end was coming soon He built himself a rocket ship and took off for the moon He landed in a great big hole, and when he stepped outside A thousand funny little men ran up to him and cried:

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt That's our name too Whenever we go out The people always shout, "Hey! John Jacob Jingleheimer Shmidt, da da da da da da da da" —Preceding unsigned comment added by FuzzyBunnyFeet (talk • contribs) 01:37, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

"Austrian version"??
Why should Austrians sing a nursery rhyme in English? -- megA (talk) 10:10, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

"Smith" variant
Isn't it sometimes sung "John Jacob Jingleheimer-Smith" instead of Shmidt? A Google search shows 8,000 results for "Jingleheimer-Smith" -- while this is less than the 700,000 results for "Jingleheimer-Schmidt" I still think it qualifies Smith as a common variant. Growing up I definitely heard the Smith version... should this variant be listed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.218.72.80 (talk) 09:07, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

Additional citations
Why and where does this article need additional citations for verification? What references does it need and how should they be added? Hyacinth (talk) 08:10, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Blinkenlights
What's the deal with the "Blinkenlights Faxlore" ? That doesn't link to anything, or make a lot of since in context. Remove? KLoverde (talk) 19:06, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Removed. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 23:23, 16 June 2012 (UTC)

Astor
I find it hard to believe that John Jacob Astor is not mentioned ONCE in this article! While the song may be about German-American names in general, fact is that the most famous one on the entire planet at the time of this song's appearance just HAPPENED to be "John Jacob" specifically.

It would be like a nursery rhyme popping up now with "George W." anything or "Camilla Parker" anything. It's OBVIOUS what they're satirizing!

I would say the song was playing quite directly on Astor's fame, but I will wait for some feedback before changing anything. 209.172.25.21 (talk) 22:10, 2 June 2013 (UTC)

Also John Jacob Astor was of Germanic descent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:83DB:48A0:98DF:FBE5:1BD3:B1FE (talk) 18:04, 26 August 2015 (UTC)


 * John and Jacob are both common names and it isn't unreasonable to say they are unrelated. Flalf (talk) 22:10, 10 February 2020 (UTC)

Logic Fail
"99 Bottles of Beer" is obviously not infinite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.91.173.36 (talk) 17:38, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Deutsches
The name Jingleheimer obviously refers to the German Ingelheimer (person from Ingelheim), derisively transformed by Anglophones to Jingleheimer. John Jacob (Hans Jakob) and Schmidt were most common German names about 1850 (Schmidt, of course, is still). Among the Germans in USA there were many immigrants from Rhenish Hesse, and Ingelheim is a prominent place of that region. All this together may have evoked this joke song about two Ingelheimers called Hans Jakob Schmidt - not an individual person. --Rabanus Flavus (talk) 20:21, 12 February 2023 (UTC)