Top of page

Happy Father’s Day

Share this post:

"As his father did before him." Harry Castling.  London: Francis, Day, & Hunter, 1888.
"As his father did before him." Harry Castling. London: Francis, Day, & Hunter, 1888.

There are songs of yore whose messages may be lost to modern ears, but Harry Castling’s “As His Father Did Before Him” strikes a chord even today. Published in London in 1898, the song paints a picture of desperate times, when the patriarchal model was apparently as likely to be a burglar as a boxer.  Castling wrote prolifically for the British Music hall,  and the tenor of his oeuvre may further be gathered from titles such as “What Ho, She Bumps!” Let us follow the good examples set by our fathers and give the next generation a model to look up to.  Celebrate Father’s Day with songs from the Historic Sheet Music Collection, 1800-1922 in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia.

Comments

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.