My Ears Hung Low

When I saw the prompt, I thought back to my very few days wearing a uniform, to wit when I belonged to the Canadian Girls in Training or CGIT. My father used to call it "Cutest Girls in Town", embarrassing me to no end. The organization was an alternative to Girl Guides and a Christian (Protestant) program intended to improve a girl's moral character.

I'm front on left, Linda Wiebe is front on the right.

Our uniforms were white and blue middy blouses. One year and one year only I went to the summer camp. My girlfriends all participated too and as I recall, we had fun swimming and learning some crafts like wood burning - everyone etched their names into signs. Looking at this photo, I don't look very happy - probably just got a chunk taken out of me by one of the billions of mosquitoes. There was never a dull moment because in the Canadian woods there's always mosquito swatting and bite scratching to while away the time. I believe we had a few leech situations as well (didn't I throw that in casually?). Sleeping away from home for a whole week was challenging and we got very homesick; I remember that week seemed like a month. If someone got a care package, it was a big deal.

One camp song stands out in my memory:

 "Do your ears hang low".. Here are the lyrics although I'm guessing almost everyone has heard them.

Do your ears hang low?

Do they wobble to and fro

Can you tie them in a knot?

Can you tie them in a bow?

Can you throw them over your shoulder

Like a Continental soldier,

Do your ears hang low?

I googled the song to see if I could find anything interesting about it, because that's what Sepia Saturday drives you to do, and I was shocked to read that the original version was a soldier's song and the lyrics were slightly different. My father was a WW1 veteran and I'm thinking he probably knew this nasty version of the song. I wonder what went through his mind when I came home from camp singing this song over and over again. 

Soldiers' version

The lyrics of the World War I version of "Do Your Balls Hang Low?" are recorded as

Do your balls hang low?
Do they dangle to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bow?

Do they itch when it's hot?
Do you rest them in a pot?

Do you get them in a tangle?
Do you catch them in a mangle?
Do they swing in stormy weather?
Do they tickle with a feather?

Do they rattle when you walk?
Do they jingle when you talk?

Can you sling them on your shoulder
Like a lousy f------ soldier?
Do your balls hang low?

Here's a cute children's version (the clean one)  if you want to hear it.



Children's Song

And I'll add my favorite photo of someone reading the Saturday Evening Post just because I like it so much. After viewing, march quickly, without looking over your shoulder, to the other posts on Sepia Saturday for more interesting stories.

Library of Congress photo.