Shave and a haircut - two bits

[schreu]

What is the origin of the musical phrase (or rhythmic pattern) known as “shave-and-a-haircut-two-bits”?
It is often used as a musical cliche at the end of a performance, as an obnoxious way to knock on a door, etc.
I assume it is quite old, dating from the time when barbers charged “two bits” for a shave and a haircut, but what is the Inside Story? Does it perhaps originate with barbershop quartet songs?

[gigi]

Welcome to the Board!

Here are a couple of links, but nothing too conclusive:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=26968

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=38661

One mentions Cecil having covered this, but I didn’t find it in the archives.

[Gilligan]

This what I turned up.
http://jrnl.net/news/00/Nov/jrn26171100.html

…According to The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk'' by James J. Fudd, the first official appearance of the musical phrase you inquired about may have been in Charles Hale's 1899 song, At a Darktown Cakewalk.’’ It next turned up in the Hot Scotch Rag'' by H.A. Fischler, published in 1911. Three years later, the song Bum-Diddle-De-Um-Bum, That’s It!’’ by Jimmie V. Monaco and Joe McCarthy featured the phrase in the last two bars.

Shave and a Haircut,'' the tune you referred to in your letter, M.A.N., was first recorded as a folk melody in 1939 by Rosalind Rosenthal and Herbert Halpert. That same year, Don Shapiro and Lester Lee published Shave and a Haircut, Shampoo.’’ The musical phrase continued to be popular into the 1940s when one of its main adaptations was as a coded signal. One person would rap out the first five notes of the phrase on a wall and the person on the other side would knock the last two notes to indicate he or she was there.