"who dat say who dat when i say who dat"

Cafe Society
1

I’m fairly sure the first time I heard this was when I was a kid. It was in, again I’m fairly sure, an old Jack Benny and Rochester movie wherein the two are up to no good in a warehouse. When Rochester hears a noise. He hollers “who dat”, which the interior echos back. Upon hearing the echo, Rochester says "“who dat say who dat when i say who dat”.
Am I right?
Peace,
mangeorge

2

According to Wikipedia, it was a common joke in minstrel shows.

I know it because my grandma will come out with it at times and crack herself up. The rest of us don’t get it.

3

Who datI remember seeing it in the frog cartoon mentioned in the article.

4

My dad told it to my brother and me as if it had been said in his earshot by some guys in his army unit in Germany in WWII. I can easily accept that he embellished what was actually said (if anything) by something he might have heard on the radio. TV would not have been an option in those days, but perhaps movies might have been.

All I can add is that this would have been in the early 50’s at the latest.

5

Ancient thread from the dawn of this board. The line does does not appear in “Spooks Run Wild,” but something similar does appear in the Abbott & Costello “A-Haunting We Will Go,” spoken by Willie Best.

6

Same here. Father was in the Army in Germany in WWII and reported it as a true incident.

7

In that linked-to thread in Earl Snake-Hips Tucker’s post, mention is made of Fort Bragg in WWII times. Daddy was there when I was born! Maybe the pre-Germany days could have been where he picked the saying up.

[Off-topic] Something else that I’m reminded of when I hear this “who dat?” thing is the “hereafter” joke. Anybody else know about that one?[/Off-topic]