This article by Ray Spitzenberger first appeared in IMAGES for Dec. 2, 2021, East Bernard Express, East Bernard, Texas.
When my brother and I, accompanied by our mother, would wait in front of the Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Giddings, Texas, for the little “dinky” passenger train to pick us up for a short shopping trip, we would sing, “Hinky, Dinky ‘Polly-view.’” The lyrics to the ditty had nothing to do with the “dinky” train we were waiting to catch; it was just a catchy little song, first popular during World War I, then revived in World War II (this was a couple years after World War II). It just seemed appropriate to sing it when the dinky train was coming. Let me tell you about the dinky and the song. First the song.
It was originally a French song, and the title ended with “Parlez-vous,” later Americanized to “Parley-voo.” Having only heard the song without seeing the written lyrics, my brother and I thought the words were “Polly-view.” In its original version the song was pretty tame, but some later versions were very obscene and other later versions were more like nursery rhymes. We sang it as kids not having a ghost of an idea what it meant; to us it was like singing, “Row, Row Your Boat” or “On Top of Old Smokey.” And the “dinky” we were about to catch was the only “dinky” we knew of.
The “dinky” we often took to nearby towns was a short (“dinky” is American slang for “small” or “insignificant”) passenger train running short distances; most railroad lines had them all over the country. In those days, the Southern Pacific Railroad ran two lines crossing each other through Giddings. My father was the Section Foreman of one of those lines, which was the only reason we took the dinky to nearby little towns, and the larger passenger train to Houston to what is now Minute Maid Park, as often as we did. The Section Foreman and his family could ride the passenger trains free to anywhere! My father worked for the Southern Pacific for 45 years, 31 of them as a Section Foreman, so we took many train rides during those years.
In those days, not everyone owned an automobile as they do now, — and certainly most teenagers did not have cars. Thus, many people went everywhere by bus, and it was cheaper than taking either the dinky or the longer passenger train. We of course took the train because it was free for us. I didn’t own a car until I graduated from college and began working at my first job. How times have changed! I suspect in another decade, even First Graders will drive a car to school, lol. There will be no need for buses then. Or passenger trains.
The words, “hinky, dinky, Polly-view,” still sing in my head quite often, and when they do, I can almost hear a train whistle blowing in the distance.
-o-
Ray Spitzenberger is a retired WCJC teacher, a retired LCMS pastor, and the author of three books, It Must Be the Noodles, Open Prairies, and Tanka Schoen.
The words to this World War I classic:
Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
She hasn’t been kissed for 40 years –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
She got the Palm and the Croix de Guerre, parlez-vous
For washin’ soldiers’ underwear –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre, parlez-vous
The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre, parlez-vous
The son-of-a-gun was never there –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
You didn’t have to know her long, parlez-vous
To know the reason men go wrong –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
She’s the hardest working girl in town, parlez-vous
But she makes her living upside down –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
The cooties rambled through her hair; parlez-vous
She whispered sweetly “C’est la guerre” –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
She’ll do it for wine she’ll do it for rum, parlez-vous
And sometimes for chocolate or chewing gum –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
You might forget the gas and shell, parlez-vous
But you’ll nev’r forget the Mademoiselle –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Armentieres, parlez-vous
Where are the girls who used to swarm, parlez-vous
About me in my uniform?
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire, parlez-vous
The Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire, parlez-vous
She never washed her underwear –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains, parlez-vous
Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains, parlez-vous
She gave the Yankees shooting pains –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!
Oh Mademoiselle from Montparnasse, parlez-vous
As soon as she’d spy a Colonel’s brass, parlez-vous
She’d take off her skirt and roll in the grass –
Hinky-dinky parlez-vous!