# Minnie the Moocher **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229 "2000-08-29T19:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_willard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@don\_willard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_willard)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/1 "2000-08-29T19:34:20Z")
Who were Jazzbo, Minnie the Moocher, and Freddie the Freeloader? Are these names copyrighted or can they be used as characters by anyone, writing a novel for instance? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/2 "2000-08-29T19:41:46Z")
Ukulele Ike’s on vacation this week, so I’ll have to jump in here. Minnie the Moocher was a song based on an earlier folk song, “Here’s the story 'bout Willie the Weeper, Willie was a chimney-sweeper. He had the dope habit and he had it bad— Lemmee tell you 'bout the dreams he had . . .” Lyda Roberti sang “Minnie the Moocher” in a B’way show around 1930, then Cab Calloway had a hit record: "Folks, now here’s the story of Minnie the Moocher, She was a red-hot hoochie-coocher . . . " It goes on about her “cokey” boyfriend, Smokey Joe, and how he taught her how to “kick the gong around.” I think the lyrics are copywrited under ASCAP, but you’d be safe using the name itself. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/3 "2000-08-29T19:51:53Z")
IIRC, Freddie the Freeloader was a character created by Red Skelton; a tramp of some sort. I have no idea if it is copywritten or even copywritable. Probably not something you want to use as his estate my consider it his intellectual property. Can’t help you out on Jazzbo. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/4 "2000-08-29T19:52:43Z")
Freddy the Freeloader was a character created by the late, great comedian Red Skelton. Freddy was a hobo, with something of a combination between Emmett Kelly and Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp, and the routines were almost always silent (usually slapstick with a little pathos/bathos). ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/5 "2000-08-29T20:12:08Z")
I knew a hooker once, named Minnie Mizzola… [sorry, I’ve seen the Blues Brothers way too many times] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/6 "2000-08-29T20:15:33Z")
(Groucho Marx in “A Night at the Opera”) "Pay thousands of dollars to hear Lazzaro sing? Why for two bits you can get a recording of “Minnie the Moocher”. (beat) “For another two bits you can get Minnie.” ---
**Author:** ![SavageNarce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SavageNarce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SavageNarce)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/7 "2000-08-29T20:32:12Z")
To return to the OP, I would avoid using the names as much for fear of confusion as copyright infringement. I doubt that copyright can really be applied to something like a song title - certainly book titles have been duplicated in the past - but characters may be another story. Just try calling yourself “Mickey Mouse” and see how long it takes for the Disney lawyers to beat a path to your door. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/8 "2000-08-29T20:49:00Z")
“Just try calling yourself “Mickey Mouse” and see how long it takes for the Disney lawyers to beat a path to your door.” —Ah, but by then you will have built a better mousetrap . . . ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/9 "2000-08-29T21:56:46Z")
> [@](#): > > . . . but characters may be another story. Just try calling yourself “Mickey Mouse” and see how long it takes for the Disney lawyers to beat a path to your door. IANAL, but I don’t believe that those characters are (or can be) copyrighted–they’re **trademarked**. And I seriously doubt that Minnie, Freddy or Jazzbo were ever trademarked as characters. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@anomalous4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous4)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/10 "2019-05-04T18:35:14Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > “Just try calling yourself “Mickey Mouse” and see how long it takes for the Disney lawyers to beat a path to your door.” > > —Ah, but by then you will have built a better mousetrap . . . In high school I knew a kid named Donald Duck. JUNIOR. :eek: Always felt sorry for the kid… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/11 "2019-05-04T18:51:55Z")
Hm. Señor Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo, Jr., anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/12 "2019-05-04T18:59:05Z")
> [@anomalous4](#): > > In high school I knew a kid named Donald Duck. > > JUNIOR. :eek: > > Always felt sorry for the kid… **Moderating** **anomalous4** , welcome to the boards. In General Questions, we prefer that old threads not be resurrected except to contribute new factual information. Since this does not, I’m closing it. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/13 "2019-05-04T19:19:31Z")
Thread reopened by request, and moved to Cafe Society. Please note this thread is old enough to vote. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/14 "2019-05-04T19:30:04Z")
There’s a Miles Davis song called Freddie Freeloader, which came out in 1959; seems the Red Skelton character dates to 1952. I doubt Miles Davis named his song after a Red Skelton character; maybe they were both drawing on some other cultural referent. Either way I’m not aware of any legal controversy about Davis using the name. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/15 "2019-05-04T19:39:33Z")
> [@don\_willard](#): > > Who were Jazzbo, I’m not sure this is who the OP was referring to, but [Al “Jazzbo” Collins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_%22Jazzbo%22_Collins) was briefly the host of the _Tonight Show_ in 1957 between Steve Allen and Jack Parr. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/16 "2019-05-04T19:42:43Z")
I see there’s a good quality copy of [Betty Boop’s Minnie the Moocher cartoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7VUU_VPI1E) on Youtube. This contains the earliest film footage of Cab Calloway, first live at the beginning of the cartoon, and then later bizarrely rotoscoped onto the body of an animated walrus ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/17 "2019-05-04T19:58:48Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I see there’s a good quality copy of [Betty Boop’s Minnie the Moocher cartoon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7VUU_VPI1E) on Youtube. This contains the earliest film footage of Cab Calloway, first live at the beginning of the cartoon, and then later bizarrely rotoscoped onto the body of an animated walrus ghost. One of my favorite cartoons. Completely surreal. I think Max Fleischer must have been kicking the gong around\* too. Interesting to see that Betty Boop’s parents are German, even though she was originally [a dog](http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/9800000/Wanna-be-a-member-Wanna-be-a-member-betty-boop-9828533-576-432.jpg) like Bimbo (not a dog-like bimbo). \*Smoking opium (from Chinatown opium dens where you struck a gong to order another pipe). ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/18 "2019-05-05T06:12:53Z")
I’ve got his Chronological Classics set and he has at least three songs about Minnie. [Minnie the Moocher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHqjMhD04uA), [Swing for Minnie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAGpnrITMk), and [Minnie the Moocher’s Wedding Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehHjShF0bmg). Then there’s the film he did, [Hi-De-Ho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqc12LWSdMk), in which Minnie is an actual character. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/19 "2019-05-05T07:29:36Z")
Back in the 80s, my parents, aware that my new bride had been turning me into a fan of jazz gave me a VHS cassette of _Hi De Ho_. It was horrifyingly racist (from my 80s perspective), but I don’t suppose the producers ever contemplated it being viewed by white folks. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229/20 "2019-05-05T18:30:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Back in the 80s, my parents, aware that my new bride had been turning me into a fan of jazz gave me a VHS cassette of _Hi De Ho_. > > It was horrifyingly racist (from my 80s perspective), but I don’t suppose the producers ever contemplated it being viewed by white folks. Cab Callaway must have been fairly popular amongst whites considering the the fact was featured in several Betty Boop cartoons. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minnie-the-moocher/31229.md?page=2)