After "Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder" became a music-hall hit in 1898 (Edward Favor's recording of that is on-line at the Edison National Historic Site),
this song was published. It also played to the Irish stereotype as well as a mishap during mealtime (adding, in this case, a can-eating goat). It did not enjoy the long life of its inspirational predecesor - it seems to have only been recorded on this one
occasion. Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan, one of the more prolific and profitable duets during the 1900s, had only been together a short while when this was recorded for Edison Labs in October of 1902. Edison Labs did not yet hire large orchestras to
accompany singers on their cylinders; the piano work of recording pioneer Frank Banta is the sole accompaniment. The cylinder from which this was sampled had some mold cultures growing on it, which made some spots noisy, but some aggressive noise reduction
has helped to tame these areas - more of the music comes through as a result.
