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.
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