July 25, 1918: “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” Is Recorded

Original sheet music

July 25, 1918: The Passing Show of 1918 premieres, at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York. Despite the fact that the show included the dancing siblings Fred and Adele Astaire, it was, as with most Broadway musicals of the period, forgettable, and has been forgotten.

But, occasionally, one song from a forgotten musical would be remembered. In this case, the song is "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles." The music was written by John Kellette. Despite being short, the lyrics were written by 3 men: James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent. None of them wrote any other songs that are familiar today.

The song was introduced by singer Helen Carrington, a 23-year-old native of Brooklyn. On July 31, 1919, Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra makes the 1st recording, and it became the biggest song of the year.

Kellette died in 1922, Kendis in 1946, Carrington in 1963, Brockman in 1967, Vincent in 1979, Selvin in 1980. The Winter Garden Theatre still stands, at 1634 Broadway at 51st Street.

As with some other songs of the era that survive, the verses got forgotten, and only the chorus is remembered. (See also: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame.") But the chorus is remembered:

I'm forever blowing bubbles.

Pretty bubbles in the air.

They fly so high.

Nearly reach the sky.

Then, like my dreams,

they fade and die.

Fortune's always hiding.

I've looked everywhere.

I'm forever blowing bubbles.

Pretty bubbles in the air.

By the time the World Series began in October, the song was big enough to be used to send a message. Sportswriter Ring Lardner saw the evidence that the Chicago White Sox were "throwing" the Series to the Cincinnati Reds during the Chicago games.

On the train back to Cincinnati, Lardner vented his spleen at the White Sox. He rewrote the big hit of the moment for them:

I'm forever blowing ballgames.
Pretty ballgames in the air.
I come from Chi.
I hardly try.
Just go to bat
and fade and die.
Fortune's coming my way.
That's why I don't care
I'm forever blowing ballgames
and the gamblers treat us fair.

The scene would be recreated in the film version of Eight Men Out, with John Sayles directing, and also playing Lardner.

In 1928, fans of East London soccer team West Ham United used the song to serenade one of their players, Billy Murray, who was nicknamed Bubbles because of his resemblance to a boy blowing a bubble in a painting that had been used in a soap ad that appeared in magazines of the time.

Billy Murray

The song stuck, and, to this day, fans of West Ham, despite their tough reputation, sing it wherever they go. At key moments in home games, a bubble machine that Lawrence Welk would have been impressed by cranks bubbles out, and the fans begin to sing.

*

July 25, 1918 was a Thursday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals at the Polo Grounds, with both games ending with a score of 3-2. Over the 2 games, Rogers Hornsby went 1-for-6 with 2 walks.

* The Brooklyn Robins -- as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager, from 1914 to 1931 -- swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-0 and 6-2 at Ebbets Field. Burleigh Grimes pitched a 1-hit shutout in the opener. Over the 2 games, Zack Wheat went 4-for-9 with 2 RBIs.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves, 4-2 and 5-0 at Braves Field in Boston. Edd Roush, the Reds' greatest player up until Frank Robinson came along in the 1950s, won the 1st game with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the 13th inning. Pete Schneider pitched a 7-hit shutout in the 2nd game.

* A doubleheader was split at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 10-5. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 12-6.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 7-3 at Navin Field in Detroit. (The ballpark was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938 and Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Ty Cobb did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Eddie Collins went 1-for-3 with a walk. Babe Ruth went 1-for-4, a single.

* The Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 1-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Joe Judge doubled Eddie Foster home with the winning run in the top of the 15th inning.

* And, because of the shortening of the season due to World War I, the game between that the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were originally going to play on this day, at League Park in Cleveland, was moved back to July 14. The Indians won, 7-1. Tris Speaker went 1-for-4. Wally Pipp got 2 hits for the Yankees, but the rest of the team only got 3.