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Items You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down

You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Music Division

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COLLECTION
American popular songs

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SUB-COLLECTION
Sheet music, 1896

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This Item

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Title
You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down
Additional title: I was standing in a crapgame doing no harm, baby! [first line]
Additional title: No more will I buy my sweet thing pork chops! [first line of chorus]
Names
Biller, Johnny (Arranger)
Harney, Benjamin Robertson, 1872-1938 (Composer)
Collection

American popular songs

Sheet music, 1896

Dates / Origin
Date Issued: 1896
Place: New York ; Chicago
Publisher: M. Witmark & Sons
Library locations
Music Division
Topics
Songs
Poor African Americans
Ragtime music
African Americans -- Capture & imprisonment
Genres
Scores
Notes
Content: After chorus contains 40 measures of music for piano solo labeled Dance music.
Content: Considered one of the first published ragtime songs.
Content: Harney and Biller credited as co-composers beneath caption title. [Biller was the arranger.]
Content: Photocopy, lacking cover.
Content: Summary: Using ethnic stereotyped language, the narrator describes being in a game of craps when a policeman puts him in jail. The narrator offers farewells to his girlfriend. The narrator goes before a judge saying that he was at a crap game carrying a gun; the judge and jury say he killed three African Americans in the first degree and can not be released on bail.
Statement of responsibility: song by Harney & Biller.
Physical Description
Extent: 1 score (4 p.) ; 36 cm.
Type of Resource
Notated music
Languages
English
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b10826013
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21757455
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): cbf133f0-c591-012f-ebb2-58d385a7bc34
Rights Statement
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Item timeline of events

  • 1896: Issued
  • 2016: Digitized
  • 2025: Found by you!
  • 2026

MLA Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. "You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1896. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fc9c287-299f-818b-e040-e00a18066d25

Chicago/Turabian Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. "You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fc9c287-299f-818b-e040-e00a18066d25

APA Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. (1896). You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fc9c287-299f-818b-e040-e00a18066d25

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/6fc9c287-299f-818b-e040-e00a18066d25 | title= (notated music) You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down, (1896) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=January 18, 2025 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

You've been a good old wagon, but you've done broke down