"Have Ya Got Any Gum, Chum?" is a big band song written by

Murray Kane Murray Kane (born Moses Simon Kaplan, May 26, 1915 – January 31, 1986) was an American Corporal, composer and band manager. As a performer, he was a member of the Crew Chiefs vocal group and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Early life Kane was ...

in 1944. The music and lyrics were registered in the United States Copyright Catalog on February 6, 1945.

Recordings

On December 8, 1944, the song was recorded by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. This version, however, was not released until June 1950 when it was included on his ''Pleasure Time'' album by Decca. In November 1945, it was recorded by the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

for a radio broadcast. It was recorded the following year by Ray McKinley with a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine review that called the recording a "cute novelty" with "plain and effective" vocals. McKinley's version was released as the B-side to his version of "

We'll Gather Lilacs We'll Gather Lilacs, also called We'll Gather Lilacs In The Spring, is a song by Welsh composer Ivor Novello which he wrote for the hit musical romance '' Perchance to Dream''. The stage musical opened at the Hippodrome Theatre in London's West E ...

" from

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

's '' Perchance to Dream''.

Origin

The song comes from the phrase "Got any gum, chum?" which was popular with British children at the time of World War II. Children would shout the phrase at passing American soldiers in an attempt to be given chewing gum or similar

rations Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. In the liner notes to the 1983 compilation ''In the USA and Europe (Vol. II)'', Richard C. March (then-secretary of the UK-based International Glenn Miller Society) described the song as a "topical period piece" that would not be appreciated by "today's younger generation" but would be understood by those "brought up at the time of sweet rationing". The lyrics mention the gum brands Chiclets, Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit.

References

{{authority control Glenn Miller songs Jazz songs 1944 songs