Muni; Miscellaneous; Inner Circle Lampoon : Fireman, Hide My Drink
- Collection
- Muni
- Series
- Miscellaneous
- Contributing Organization
- WNYC (New York, New York)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/80-59q2chvd
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- Description
- Description
- At a formal event, past and present members of the press perform lampoons of current events, including Governor Dewey's presidential campaign, Frank Costello, and the suspension of Fire Chief Peter Loftus. Color commentary by Cowan. Introduction by Fred Curran: "Tonight the Inner Circle will do a little investigating of its own. We will tear apart the curtain and present to you problems of our city, problems of our state, problems of our nation." Occasional Cowan commentary interrupts the performance. Chorus of "firemen" sang (including Councilman Charles E. Keegan): "We'll retreat to Great Jones Street. Where plenty of lager flows Curtain's down, you'll go to town Where you laugh and joke 'stead of eating smoke And they hand out some bottles and hose. In a firehouse trimmin' with women and women We're bound to click with some fancy chick The fire bell can go to hell It will be swell with bottle and hose." And, later: Drink, drink, drink, Drink again to happy days. Drink, drink, drink to O'Dwyer, Quale and Bayes. They're a joke Let the place go up in smoke They'll be a hot time in the old town tonight." "Rip Van Winkle Dewey" sang: "How're they gonna keep me down on the farm Or up in Alban-ee; How're they gonna keep me out of the White House -- It's common talk, I'll win in a walk. I'm much too big for that small time stuff." To which President Truman replied: "You're gonna go back, you're gonna go back, You're gonna go back to your farm; Far away from harm, with a milk pail on your arm. Way up in Pawling, you'll find your calling -- A-calling in the cows." Then the chorus, dressed in judicial gowns, sang: "We're nine little judges who strayed one night, Caught, caught, caught. We were out for some fun and to see the sights, Caught, caught, caught. Racketeers, chiselers and punks we deplore Giving us contracts on the Copa's dance floor." Strange tableaux, "Jockeying for Position," is set in a classroom, where three students are asked what U.S.A., C.I.O., and S.O.B. mean -- they only know one. Cowan: "Everyone in the United States knew the answer to that one!" Officers of the Inner Circle include: Fred Curran, of the New York Journal-American; James P. McCaffrey, of the New York Times; Howard Shiebler, of the Brooklyn Eagle; Thomas Pennell, of the Associated Press; and Frank J. MacMaster, Long Island Daily Press. Show directed by Shiebler, Richard F. Maher of the Associated Press, and Councilman Charles E. Keegan. Information comes from a NY Times article, "Inner circle sings of year's foibles: political reporters lampoon 1948 campaign, firehouse party, and judicial feast," 1949-03-04.
- Description
- NEHblog The best performance is by a man (Cowan identifies, though not clearly) dressed as a woman(?) singing of the recent presidential election, around 00:29:00.
- Date
- 1949-03-05
- Genres
- Performance
- Event Coverage
- Media type
- Sound
- Duration
- 00:30:45
- Credits
-
-
Performer: Keegan, Charles E.
Performer: McCaffrey, James
Performer: Shiebler, Howard
Performer: Pennell, Thomas
Performer: MacMaster, Frank
Reporter: Cowan, Thomas, 1884-1969
Speaker: Curran, Fred
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 69981.1 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: audio/vnd.wave
Generation: Dub
Duration: 00:30:45
-
WNYC-FM
Identifier: 69981.2 (WNYC Media Archive Label)
Format: Data CD
Generation: Dub
Duration: 01:01:52
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “Muni; Miscellaneous; Inner Circle Lampoon : Fireman, Hide My Drink,” 1949-03-05, WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed April 1, 2026, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-59q2chvd.
- MLA: “Muni; Miscellaneous; Inner Circle Lampoon : Fireman, Hide My Drink.” 1949-03-05. WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. April 1, 2026. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-59q2chvd>.
- APA: Muni; Miscellaneous; Inner Circle Lampoon : Fireman, Hide My Drink. Boston, MA: WNYC, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-80-59q2chvd