For centuries, nursery rhymes have entertained children and adults alike, and were an indispensable part of kindergarten classrooms and bedtime routines.
In a heartwarming rendition below, you'll see one of the fascinating and unexpected ways that popular nursery rhymes were once used in North America.
In 1912, the New York State Woman Suffrage Party published a booklet titled Mother Goose as a Suffragette.
Taking cues from popular, traditional nursery rhymes, the book gave rather interesting twists to a few lines in the poems, and ended up giving us a lot of insight into what women's lives were like at the time.
Some of these little rhymes may seem very odd, like many of these provocative real-life vintage ads do, but they nevertheless provided an intriguing political commentary to a hot-button issue of the era.
Scroll down to start reading from the 1912 activist booklet, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
[H/T: Mashable]
Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women all over the United States campaigned, marched, and fought for their equal right to vote.
The suffragist activists were resourceful, intelligent women who held meetings, speeches, and handed out books and pamphlets to spread their messages and inform other suffragettes on their movement.
Sometimes, they even used playful and charming ways to appeal to the masses. In 1912, the New York State Woman Suffrage Party collaborated with The Brooklyn Eagle, a daily paper from back then, to publish Mother Goose as a Suffragette, a 35-page booklet.
The book puts a twist on Mother Goose, the popular imaginary author and character in nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and gives an interesting perspective on women in society.
Scroll further to start reading!
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of women (Suffragists) as well as men.
"Jack and Jill have equal will and equal strength and mind. But when it comes to Equal Rights poor Jill trails far behind."
"Hark! Hark! The dogs do bark!
"Suffragettes on parade, some in rags and some in tags, but all are welcome made!"
"Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son, John,
"He went to bed with his stockings on. Why wasn't I there when he went to sleep?
"I was working all night for his room and 'keep.'"
"Little Miss Horner stood on a corner making a suffrage speech.
"'Her logic and brain,' said the women, 'are plain.'
"But them men just said, 'Ain't she a peach!'"
"There was a little girl and she had a little curl, right down the middle of her forehead.
"When she got the vote she was very good indeed, but when they kept it from her she was horrid."
"Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-eater, had a wife and couldn't keep her.
"For all her days and all her nights she spent in preaching Equal Rights."
"Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how do your arguments grow?
"A few facts perverted, old notions asserted, and little fibs all in a row."
"Dickory, dickory, dub, the mouse ran under the tub.
"He stays there yet, for a suffragette is after him with a club."
"Higgledy, piggledy, my black hen, she lays eggs for gentlemen;
"Won't they be stumped some fine day, when the ladies find a nice white hen!"
"Ding, dong bell, the woman's in the well. Who put her there? Ignorance, I swear.
"Who'll put her out? The Vote, without a doubt.
"It was a naughty world, I trow, to try to hurt the lady so,
"Who never did it any harm and only added to its charm."
"One, two, a vote will do;
"Three, four, I'll do some more;
"Five, six, the laws I'll fix;
"Seven, eight, make politics straight;
"Nine, ten, equal with men."
"Rub-a-dub-dub — three men in a tub, and crowded in with them — a lady!
"A convict, a fool, and a lunatic, who'll leave her longer with people so shady?"
"Old woman, old woman will you stay behind?"
"Speak a little louder, my hearing's poor, I find."
"Old woman, old woman, shall we go together?"
"Thank you, kind sir, it's improving in this weather."
"Humpty Dumpty sits on a wall; Humpty Dumpty's doomed to a fall;
"For suffragist logic and women's intrusion are demolishing much of his former seclusion."
"Misrepresentation is vexation; exclusion is just as bad;
"The Rule of Men perplexes me, and Antis drive me mad."
"This is the house that Jack built. This is the legislature that lives in the house that Jack built.
"This is the Ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built.
"This is the money that bought the ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built.
"This is the politician that paid the money that bought the ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built."
"This is the trust that owns the politician that paid the money that bought the ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built.
"This is the Housewife that is oppressed by the trust that owns the politician that paid the money that bought the ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built.
"This is the Remedy that is needed by the housewife that is oppressed by the trust that owns the politician that paid the money that bought the ballot that elected the Legislature that lives in the house that Jack built."
Please SHARE if you're proud to be a strong and independent woman — all thanks to these brave suffragettes!
