When the universe is in perfect alignment, everything falls into place. We’ve had moments when we think about a good friend just as the phone rings. When you’re on your last two dollars, with three days until payday, the gas tank is on “E.” You miraculously find a twenty-dollar bill in the parking lot. Epic moments like that don’t happen every day. A truck driver and a train engineer’s worlds aligned for two seconds, and we received a coordinated horn symphony. You can watch the clip here.
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The truck driver used his horn to toot out the first part of “Shave and a haircut,” the train answered with “Two bits.” Almost everyone is familiar with the little ditty. Many of us used it as a “secret knock” for kids to enter the “clubhouse.”
The Origin Of The Truck And Train Horn Duet Might Surprise You
The tune has been around since 1899 as part of the song “At a Darktown Cakewalk,” written by Charles Hale. Over the years, it has been used in TV skits, movies, and musical numbers to add a bit of whimsy. It was even part of the novel Hizzoner the Mayor, written in 1933 by Joel Sayre.
Dan Shapiro, Milton Berle, and Lestor Lee used the catchy phrase in 1939 to advertise “Shave and a Haircut – Shampoo.” During the same year, Herbert Halpert (not to be confused with Herb Alpert) and Rosalind Rosenthal used the tune to advertise an aftershave, “Shave and a Haircut, Bay Rum.”
Real barbershops often had live music, and musicians began ending tunes with the ditty. When barbershop quartets were popular, they often ended their harmonized songs with the ditty and a little tap dance jig.
It isn’t surprising that the truck and the train coordinated their horns to create the epic greeting. Given the jingle’s well-known background, many of us automatically answer. We say “Two bits” or offer the obligatory two knocks if we hear the first part.
Please share if you’ve ever used the tune for “Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits.”
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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