My dad used to sing this song at camp-outs and at other places where he just wanted to tease his girls or his family about liking food. His version went like this:
I took my daughter to the restaurant And this is what she ate:
Squab on toast,
Chicken and a roast,
Apple sass and asparagas,
But then when she asked for pie,
I thought I’d die,
‘Cause I had but 50-cents.
Recently, I found the full version of the song. It has exactly the same tune but it is slightly longer.
I took my girl to a fancy ball, it was a social hop,
We waited till the folks got out and the music it did stop.....
Then to a restaurant we went, the best one on the street,
She said she wasn't hungry, but this is what she eat:
A dozen raw, a plate of slaw, a chicken and a roast,
Some apple sauce, asparagrass, some soft-shell crab on toast;
A bowl of stew, some crackers too, her appetite was immense,
When she asked for pie, I thought I'd die, for I had but fifty cents.
She said she wasn't hungry and she didn't care to eat,
But I got money in my clothes to bet she can't be beat;
She took it in so cozy, she had an awful tank,
She said she wasn't thirsty, but this is what she drank:
A whiskey skin, a glass of gin, which made me shake with fear,
Some soda pop with rum on top, a schooner full of beer;
A glass of ale, a gin cocktail, she shoulda had more sense,
When she called for more, I fell to the floor, for I had but fifty cents.
Of course, I wasn't hungry and I didn't care to eat,
Expecting any moment, to be kicked into the street;
She said she'd bring her family 'round, and someday we'll have fun,
When I showed the man my fifty cents, oh this is what he done:
He tore my clothes, he smashed my nose, he hit me on the jaw,
He gave me a prize, a pair of black eyes, and with me swept the floor;
He grabbed me where me pants are loose and threw me over the fence,
Take my advice, don't try it twice when you got but fifty cents.
Take my advice, don't try it twice when you got but fifty cents.
####.... Sam Devere, 1881. Published in 1885 ....####
First written as a poem in 1881 by Sam Devere and originally published in 1885. Recorded by the Binkley Brothers Dixie Clodhoppers in 1928.
This variant and a YouTube video are available from a recording by the Punters (Fisherman's Blues, trk#9, 2003, Avondale Music Ltd, St. John's, NL, produced by Larry Foley and Patrick Moran, and recorded by Mark Neary at Audiolab Studios).
There are several other versions: Version 1 - "I Had But Fifty Cents" as sung by Max Hunter, Springfield, Missouri on February 9, 1969 (Cat. #0687 (MFH #274) http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?id=687)
Version 2 - "I Had But Fifty Cents" as sung by Mrs. Pearl Brewer, Pocahontas, Arkansas on May 27, 1959 (Cat. #0347 (MFH #274) http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=0347)
Version 3 - Australian version (http://warrenfahey.com/people/dd-18-pence.html - alas, no chords or audio) as "The Social Hop" (as collected by Mrs. Doris Day of Highett Road, Hampton, Victoria.)
Version 5 - Irish Version B the "Half-A-Crown" - also perhaps Galway.
Version 6 - The Betsy Brown/Pretty Little Thing Mash-up (recorded by Frank Crumit in the 1920s)
Version 6 - 7. Gerry B.'s nifty American version from Mudcat Café:
"I Had But Fifty Cents" (from which the final two prodigious-eating verses were taken) and "Pretty Little Dear" were originally two separate songs. It seems that Frank Crumit was the one who crunched the two songs together as one. He recorded and copyrighted it in August 1926 as "Pretty Little Dear."
"Betsey Brown" was a separate song in its own right, without the gorging. First to record it was Walter Morris for Columbia, Sept 1926. Al Hopkins and His Buckle Busters recorded it as "Betsy Brown" on October 23.
"Pretty Little Dear" was covered by half a dozen early country artists, and the melding of the two songs became standard. Yet they really don't sound very connected. Meanwhile "(When) I Had But Fifty Cents" was recorded by numerous country artists beginning with Riley Puckett in 1924, Ernest Stoneman in 1925, Welby Toomey 1926, Bill Chitwood 1927 and so on. It generally did not have the "Pretty Little Dear / Betsy Brown" verses.
She's a pretty little dear and she lives uptown.
Her daddy is a butcher and his name is Brown.
Her beauty is of a high renown. She's the girl for me.
Her eyes are bright as diamonds. Her teeth are white as pearls.
I tell you, boy, she's handsome, and you bet she's one of the girls.
She's a pretty little dear and she lives uptown.
Her daddy is a butcher and his name is Brown.
Her beauty is of a high renown. She's the girl for me.
We're going to get married tomorrow night.
I asked her daddy and he said, "All right."
I feel so bully, I've a notion to get tight.
But I know that wouldn't do,
Because her dad's a square old chap. He's the richest man in town.
He's going to give me a house and lot, along with Betsy brown.
She's a pretty little dear and she lives uptown.
Her daddy is a butcher and his name is brown.
Her beauty is of a high renown. She's the girl for me.
I took my girl to a dance one night. It was a social hop.
We danced until the lights went out. The music had to stop.
I took her to a restaurant, the finest in the state.
She said she wasn't hungry, but this is what she ate.
A dozen raw potato slaw, chicken and a roast,
Apple sass, asperagas, soft shelled crabs on toast,
Two big stew, crackers too. Her appetite was immense.
When she asked for pie, I thought I'd die, for I had but fifty cents.
She's a pretty little dear, etc.
Gus Meade in his Country Music Sources traces "I Had But Fifty Cents" to a composition by Billy Mortimer - Dan Lewis 1881/Sam Devere, 18??). He traces "Betsy Brown," ("Pretty Little Dear"), to an 1880 source he does not name.
