TWO BITS...

"Shave and a haircut, 2 bits."

I hadn't thought of that phrase in years, but I was giving one of my clients a shave and a haircut and of course, I had to sing: "Shave and a haircut, 2 bits." A discussion followed, each of us wondering the derivation of the song snippet. I thought that 2 bits was 50 cents, but the client was certain it is 25 cents. I defer to his recollection!

2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar! Of course it's 25 cents!

"To the internet!", I announced. "Inquiring minds need to know!"

The term "bit" to mean currency stems from our Colonial days. The U.S. dollar was equivalent to the Spanish peso. 1 bit was equivalent to 1/8 of a Spanish peso. People would cut the peso into 8 pieces. The United States had no coin with the same monetary value of 1 bit. A quarter of a dollar would be equal to a quarter of a peso, which equals 2 bits!

The music originated in 1888 when Gilbert and Sullivan used the 5-note riff in The Yeoman Of The Guard. Since then, the 7-note couplet has been used numerous times, usually with comic effect. In 1939, Milton Berle, along with Shapiro and Lee, added the lyrics in a recording Shave And A Haircut--Shampoo. Many others have used the words and music; e.g.: Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in Officer Krupke from West Side Story, Doc Severinson on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, Dave Brubeck, Earl Scruggs, Les Paul and Mary Ford, and my personal favorite: Tom Lehrer in his song Elements.

In high school, one of the basketball cheers was: "2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar,
Everyone from Bloomingburg, stand up and holler!"

I have also heard:

"Shave and a haircut,
You said a mouthful--shut up!"

"Shave and a haircut,
Bay rum!"

My mother, who liked to add her own riffs to practically every song, would always sing it this way:

"Shave and a haircut, two bits,
Who is the barber?
Tom Mix."

Les said, "Who knew Tom Mix was a barber?"