Comments on Playground Jungle: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear: The Long History of a Jump...

My version was similar but I remember "Teddy ...

2011-11-12T19:10:36.755-08:00

My version was similar but I remember "Teddy bear, Teddy Bear tie your shoe" was before "go up the stairs" but i can't remember what came after "tie your shoe" to rhyme with it. We also didn't have the "say your prayers" line.

(Toronto, Ontario, early 2000s)

I realise this was posted more than a year ago, bu...

2011-09-01T18:34:54.927-07:00

I realise this was posted more than a year ago, but nevertheless . . . our schoolyard version (Ontario, Canada, in the early 90's) was similar to yours, but ended with:

"Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, tie your shoe;
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do"

The "new" girl, from a different school, knew it as "show your shoe", like in your Butterfly example above.

Steve - I've heard that explanation. Certainly...

2010-02-11T10:32:01.359-08:00

Steve - I've heard that explanation. Certainly the phrase goes back to before the 20s (it came up in the Titanic hearings), but I always thought the Flatiron building theory was more charming than convincing.

A possible explanation for the phrase "23 ski...

2010-02-11T10:29:11.161-08:00

A possible explanation for the phrase "23 skidoo" comes from the updrafts on the sidewalks surrounding New York's Flatiron Building. When it was constructed - circa 1902 -- getting a gaze at a girl's gams was quite exciting. The building stands at the intersection of Fifth and Broadway at 23rd Street. Which now leaves us with the question, "where did the 'skidoo' come from?"