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Note: This article is about a virulently racist lyrics in songs. Read no farther if you wish to avoid racist imagery and slurs.

"My Grandmother Lived on Yonder Little Green," aka "My Grandma Lived on Yonder Little Green," aka "My Grandma's Advice," published in 1857 by Horace Waters, 333 Broadway, New York

"The Old Rose Tree"

"Old Bog Hole"

"Turkey in the Straw" (traditional)

"The Whistler and His Dog," ©1905 by Arthur Pryor (1869–1942)

Racists contrafactums

"Nigger Love a Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!," 1916, words by American banjoist and songwriter Harry C. Browne (1878–1954)

(audio via YouTube)

"Natchez Under the Hill," named for a saloon town on the river below Natchez, Mississippi

"Zip Coon," © 1934 by Endicott & Swett (George Endicott, 1802–1848; and Moses Adams Swett, 1804–1838), published with words in 1934 by Joseph Fairfield Atwill's (1811–1891) Music Saloon, 201 Broadway, New York; popular during Andrew Jackson's presidency. Atwill was Eliza D. Keith's (1854–1939) grandfather.

Melody used in racists contexts

Arguments supporting assertions that the ice cream jingle is racist

"Code Switch: Word Watch – Recall That Ice Cream Truck Song? We Have Unpleasant News For You," NPR, Theodore R. Johnson, III, May 11, 2014

"Turns Out The 'Ice Cream Song' From Our Childhood Is Incredibly Racist," by Gabe Paoletti (né Gabriel Umberto Etkin Paoletti; born 1995), All That's Interesting (Brooklyn), December 15, 2017, updated October 30, 2019 (retrieved November 27, 2019)

Argument refuting assertions that the jingle is racist

"That Viral Story About the Racist Ice Cream Song Is Wrong," by John H. McWhorter, The New Republic, May 16, 2014

"Eye on the News – The Case for Moving On: On Ice Cream Trucks, Memory, and Race in America," by John H. McWhorter, City Journal, July 11, 2014

History

"Early Sources & Versions of the Song 'Turkey in the Straw'," edited by Azizi Powell (born 1947), pancocojams (blog at pancocojams.blogspot.com), April 26, 2013

"Old Zip Coon"

Mister Softee jingle

The melody broadcast from Mister Softee trucks – bearing the likeness of a music-box – is a contrafactum of Arthur Pryor's 1905 composition, "The Whistler and His Dog." Philidelphia ad man, Les Waas (né Lester Morton Waas; 1921–2016) scored it with new words for Mister Softee, and titled it, "Jingle and Chimes." Waas created close to 1,000 jingles.

Trademark infringement tried in New York

Mister Softee has defended its trademarks, notably in the following two cases:

• Dimitrios Tsirkos, who until 2014 had for decades been a Mister Softee franchisee in New York, launched a com­pet­ing ice cream vending company, which was incorporated January 24, 2014, in New York under the name Master Softee Inc., and, among other things, used Mister Softee's jingle. Mister Softee, in 2014, sued Tsirkos in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and prevailed on three allegations: (i) breach of franchise agreements, (ii) trademark infringement, and (iii) other unfair business practices. In 2016, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain held Tsirkos in contempt for failing to begin payments on a $97,000 judgment handed down in the 2014 case.

• The next year, Mister Softee won, by default, a Federal lawsuit against Dimitrios Konstantakakos and 3 DDD Ice Inc. – owner of New York Ice Cream Truck Inc. of Long Island City – preventing him from using Mister Softee's jingle.

Int­er­na­tion­al Trade­mark Class: 042
Prior U.S. Clas­si­fi­ca­tions: 100 and 101			Reg­is­tra­tion No. 2218017
U.S. Pat­ent and Trade­mark Of­fice			Reg­is­tered Jan­u­ary 19, 1999
Service Mark Prin­ci­pal Reg­is­ter
Sensory Mark—No Drawing
Mark Draw­ing Code: 6 – for sit­u­a­tions for which no draw­ing is pos­si­ble, such as sound
Mis­ter Softee, Inc. (New Jer­sey cor­po­ra­tion)         901 Clem­ents Bridge Road         Runnemede, NJ 08078			The mark con­sists of a mu­si­cal jin­gle com­posed of six­teen notes in the key of E flat, in the se­quence of B♭ – C – B♭ – G – F – E♭ – F – E♭ – C – E♭ – D – E♭ – F – B♭ – G – E♭, which is then re­peat­ed. (Mark audio on file)
G&S: Re­tail mo­bile vend­ing ser­vic­es through the use of trucks fea­tur­ing soft ice cream.			Trade­mark ap­pli­ca­tion Se­ri­al No.: 74619989; filed Jan­u­ary 11, 1995
First use: March 1960; First use in com­merce: March 1960
2nd Renewal: March 20, 2018			Affidavit text: Sect. 15. Sect. 8 Dec­la­ra­tion (6–years). Sec­tion 8 Dec­la­ra­tion (10–years) March 20, 2018
			Ja­son Fitz­ger­ald Turn­er, Trade­mark Ex­am­in­ing At­tor­ney, USPTO

With respect to defending the trademarks, Mister Softee vice president Jim Conway has stated, "For 58 years we’ve spent our time, energy, and money developing brands. We’re one of the most recognized brands. The people who are infringing on our trademark are not only hurting Mr. Softee, but also hurting our mom and pop franchisees. We take these actions to protect them as much to protect our own brand."

Doug Quattlebaum

In June 1961, Doug Quattlebaum, an American Piedmont blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, was 're-discovered' playing popular and blues songs through the public address system of his Mister Softee ice cream van. The blues historian, Pete Welding, who became known for discovering talent in unusual places, heard his performances and arranged for him to record an album. Released by Bluesville Records, Softee Man Blues (1963) had a photograph of Quattlebaum in his ice cream uniform on its front cover.