0:41 at this clip. Note how the low voice in the background almost sings “Tomorrowland Transit Authority…”
I have vague memories of old movies in which a character would be boarding a train, and somewhere a voice would be “singing” some information about the train: “Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe now boarding on platform number fi-ive~~” for example.
Did this really go on, and if so, what was the purpose of it? Why not just speak the information instead of singing it?
WAG: This may have originated before electronic amplification was available. Calling out in some sort of sing-song rhythm might’ve made it easier to pick up the conductor’s calls out from the general din of the train or train station.
Angel of the Lord is on to something. Think “Town crier” for example. In normal speech, softer syllables get lost. With such singing this is less likely to happen.
“On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” was an actual song, sung by Judy Garland in the film The Harvey Girls. Radio shows would have their announcers pick up on the musical cadence of the towns to use as a joke that their audience would catch. I think it was on the Jack Benny Show in particular that this was a running joke, but my memory may be playing tricks with me.
Rhymes and cadences are effective mnemonics that are known to be used as far back as Homer, which was designed to be memorized and recited aurally.
I don’t think real train announcers were always as musical, at least not if you judge by all the jokes about unintelligible train announcements that were made at the time.
“Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga.” It was indeed a running gag on the Jack Benny show, voiced by the great Mel Blanc.
Since it’s before my time, what was the joke?
The joke was in the funny way that he said the words, in a way that only Mel Blanc could do.
Not to mention that Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga are funny words on their own.
also, LA is a lot more the pop cultural center of the US now than it was in the early 1950s. The style of those town names sounded pretty exotic to folks from Peabody, Ohio or New Haven CT.
“Cooo-ka-munga!”
Damn, I’m grinning.
(On topic? Well, the sing-song cadence will also be easier to distinguish over the background noise of the engine and the motion of the cars.)
More importantly, they sounded quaintly absurd to the folks from Brooklyn and Bayonne who were at the pop cultural center of the US at the time.
Why “Anaheim” would be a sillier name for a place than “Levittown” is beyond me, but that’s regional bias for ya.
I have also read (it was before my time too) that often Mel would stretch out the names over a ridiculously long and funny length. Like Cuc…(15 minutes of show including perhaps an entire skit or such)…amonga! Such that the audience and even Jack would forget that Mel hadn’t finished the bit yet.
It’s the “Cucamonga” that makes it funny. It’s the part of the bit that people remember, and the part that people stress. Even now, it sounds amusing.
Blanc would also use it in Warner Brothers cartoons, where it was often just cut down to the Cucamonga.
Also, it was a running gag. The first time might get a smile, but once it became a catchphrase, it was even funnier.
And let’s not forget that old Jan and Dean hit, “The Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review And Timing Association.”
'Zactly.
A bellhop paged “Call for Phillip Mor-reeeiss!” in a similar style as a slogan for that brand of cigarettes. See the very end of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzTGxY7gTCg
Singing out something was also a good way to keep time (railroad workers used to sing songs as they did things like working on the tracks). Given that trains need to run on time, singing can help subconsciously imply the need for the listeners to hurry up and get on the train, since shouting, “All right you maggots! Git yer asses on the locomotive!” probably wouldn’t have gone over too well.
From Wikipedia’s entry for Mel Blanc:
I have quite a few of the old Jack Benny shows - including that one where it was literally over 20 minutes until Blanc finished the “…amonga!” Quite hilarious.
Could you please tell me which Jack Benny episode that was? I want to look for it.
Is a Cucamonga video clip available online?
I don’t have show numbers, I’m sorry. Try this:
http://benny.crispy.com/search.php
Enter cucamonga in the search box - 2 episodes will pop up. You can hear Mel Blanc on both of them doing the “Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga” bit in both of them. I doubt, from the episode synopses, that the long pause is on either of them.
Johnny, I’m not aware of any video online, but audio is definitely available.