The capstan shanty New York Girls (Can't You Dance The Polka) describes a sailor's time ashore in the port of New York. The locations in lower Manhattan vary with the numerous versions of the song. In one he "walks out on Broadway" while in another it is Chatham Street.
A variant mentions "Tiffany's":
"I took her down to Tiffany's,
I did not mind expense
I bought her two gold earrings
And they cost me fifty cents."
The Polka became an international dance craze in the 1830s and 40s. Its popularity among sailors explained by Shantypedia:
"You had to hold your partner firmly to whirl her round the floor at high speed and maybe even lift her right off the ground. And like their sisters in other seaports, the New York girls were always read to oblige-at a price."
Irish folksinger Finbar Furey in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York:
Each Monday, Baghdad on the Subway takes a musical look at the City.
A variant mentions "Tiffany's":
"I took her down to Tiffany's,
I did not mind expense
I bought her two gold earrings
And they cost me fifty cents."
The Polka became an international dance craze in the 1830s and 40s. Its popularity among sailors explained by Shantypedia:
"You had to hold your partner firmly to whirl her round the floor at high speed and maybe even lift her right off the ground. And like their sisters in other seaports, the New York girls were always read to oblige-at a price."
Irish folksinger Finbar Furey in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York:
Cezar Del Valle is the author of the Brooklyn Theatre Index, a three-volume history of borough showplaces. The first two volumes chosen 2010 OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR by the Theatre Historical Society. Final volume published in September 2014.
He conducts a series of popular theatre talks and walking tours.
He conducts a series of popular theatre talks and walking tours.
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