Post #522863 by ikitnrev on Thu, Apr 8, 2010 1:45 PM

Thanks for the info - I wasn't familiar with that song. A quick search showed that it was the often improvised risque and bawdy lyrics to an originally legitimate song which may have been the real reason for the song's popularity.

Here are some examples ..... and take special notice of the lyrics in bold

Oh, Mademoiselle from Montparnasse, Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Montparnasse, Parley-vous
You didn't have to know her long,
To know the reason men go wrong!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?
.
.
She's the hardest working girl in town,
But she makes her living upside down!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?
.
.
As soon as she'd spy a Colonel's brass,
She'd take off her skirt and roll in the grass!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?
.
.
She'll do it for wine, **she'll do it for rum **,
And sometimes for chocolate or chewing gum!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?
.
.
Where are the girls who used to swarm
About me in my uniform?
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

So, it appears that Bergeron's first bar named 'Hinky Dinks' and the Chicago alderman nicknamed 'Hinky Dinks' both had ties - even if based in song lyrics only - to loose women of the era.

Vern