It makes a string of pseudo-nostalgic references: to Orville Wright's first powered flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina; waltzing to the John Philip Sousa band; "Picking up Pittsburgh on a crystal set" refers to KDKA (AM), the first commercial broadcast radio station in the United States; the "running board on a Chandler Six" refers to a six-cylinder automobile of the same era as Henry Ford's famous Tin Lizzy; "Movie stars of the silent era", including Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan, are mentioned as making you laugh and then cry; "Watching John L. win every fight, 'cause nobody ducked from Sullivan's right" refers to John L. Sullivan (1858-1918), the heavyweight boxing champion.
In 1950, some of the best-known versions were recorded by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians (with a vocal by Kenny Gardner), Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae, Ray Bolger and Ethel Merman, and Lisa Kirk and Fran Warren.
[1] The various versions of the song (combined, as was normal for Cash Box) reached number 4 on their Best-Selling Records chart.
In the UK, there were contemporary cover versions released by Bob and Alf Pearson (as part of their medley "In Big Bits of Big Hits"), The Five Smith Brothers, Ted Ray and Kitty Bluett, Billy Ternent and his Orchestra (with vocals by Eva Beynon and Bobby Breen), Joe Loss and his Orchestra, and Donald Peers.
Dennis Day performed a version on The Jack Benny Program on April 9, 1950, with the final verse directed at "Jackie" instead of "dearie", reminiscing on the life of Jack Benny, who chimes in with a very off-key "I'm thirty-nine" as the penultimate line.