Sheet music:I've Been Working on the Railroad

During the early years of the 20th century, pianos graced the parlors of many middle class American homes. Even after 1920, when many people purchased home radios to listen to their favorite programs, sheet music made it possible to learn and play a favorite song heard there. One of the standard forms of this music, and one of the most popular types, was the comic song. Growing out of a folk song tradition as well as out of comedic minstral shows, comic songs were a fixture in American music. Whether they took advantage of clever rhyme schemes, college-year antics, or ethnic dialects--these songs sold well.