Old MacDonald Had a Farm, His Wife Had Costume Jewelry

Do you know the nursery rhyme Old MacDonald Had a Farm? The song as we know it in the U.S. was first published in 1917 having come to being through oral tradition. The rest of the world knows it too. At least according to Wikipedia. In the Finnish version "Piippolan vaarilla oli talo," the song translates "Grandpa Piippola had a house."

Additional samplings from around the world are scattered throughout this post. In the meantime, let's get some of Mrs. MacD's jewelry posted.

SHEEP and GOATS

Unsigned Plastic Lamb Pin

Pin by Dorothy Bauer (it's close to being a sheep!)

Kenneth Jay Lane Bracelet

A rock version of Old MacDonald was recorded by The Isley Brothers in the 1950s.

The Italian version of Old MacDonald is Nella vecchia fattoria (In The Old Farm). The farmer is Zio Tobia (uncle Tobias).

In Hebrew  (LaDod Moshe hayta hava) it is Uncle Moshe Who Had a Farm. 

RABBITS

Karu Pin

Trifari Pin

Boucher Pin

Unsigned Plastic Pin

In the Slovenian version Na kmetiji je lepo (literally: On a farm it is beautiful), it can be a children's song, a naughty song, and in some versions of the song, the lyrics have been turned into a vulgar drinking song.

PIGS

Charm Bracelet

Nettie Rosenstein Bracelet and Pair of Fur Clips

In 1952, a modified version of the nursery rhyme was used in a campaign ad for Adlai Stevenson's unsuccessful campaign for President. The lyrics were altered to promote the Stevenson campaign's appeal to farmers.

COWS and BULLS

   
Lunch at the Ritz Earrings

   
Vintage Fob with Scene of Grazing Cows

Elzac Wood and Lucite Pin

   
Unsigned Bull Pins

The Roud Folk Index is a database of nearly 200,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs that have been collected from English language oral tradition. Old MacDonald's Roud Folk Song Index is #745. This may come in handy some day if you're ever on Jeopardy!

HORSES

Krementz Pin

Bakelite Pin

Plastic Pin

In Chinese there are several versions of the song in same tune. The most popular is (Wáng lǎo xiānshēng yǒu kuài dì), or Old Mr. Wang Had Some Land.

Elvis did a version of Old MacDonald too!

DONKEYS and MULES

Hattie Carnegie Pin

Elzac Pin

   
Unsigned Pins

Silver Pin from Mexico

In Serbian Svako jutro jedno jaje organizmu snagu daje (One egg per day gives the strength to human organism) has the same melody. I don't know if this Wiki fact is true, but I found it interesting.

CHICKENS and ROOSTERS

   
Unsigned Pins

Trifari Pin

Unsigned Pin

Coro Pin

Silver Enamel Charm

Unsigned Pin

Gold Charm

Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Frank Sinatra's version; arranged by Nelson Riddle

DUCKS

Coro Jelly Belly Pin

Monet Pin

Forstner Pin

Mixed Metals Pin from Mexico

Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Nat King Cole's version

SCARECROWS

Sarah Coventry Pin

Unsigned Pin

You can thank me for not posting the Three Stooges version of Old MacDonald. It was pretty lame; but it does exist and if you want to hear it, it's on youtube.

Be sure to check my store for all your farm animal jewelry needs. Just click here!