[2] Also known after its first three words as "A Passing Policeman",[3] it is usually considered to have been the first work promoted as an illustrated song (an early precursor of the music video).

Joseph W. Stern & Co. "started their career in a little basement at 314 East Fourteenth Street with a 30-cent sign and a $1 letterbox, which to say the least was not large capital even in those days..."[1] The promoting innovation that made "The Little Lost Child" significant to cultural history was an idea in the mind of George H. Thomas even earlier, in 1892.

A production of The Old Homestead at Brooklyn's Amphion Theater, where Thomas was chief electrician, featured the song "Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?"

"[10] With 10 slides on which the lyrics were reproduced, the first performance took place at the Grand Opera House in Manhattan, during the intermission of a Primrose and West minstrel show.

[10][11] "The Little Lost Child" was the first of several hit songs Marks and Stern wrote together as well as the first of several their company published, but it became a true sensation and was well-remembered several decades later.

"Papa you are crying", lisped the little child Suddenly the door of the station opened wide, "Have you seen my darling?"

[15] Sigmund Spaeth wrote in 1926 that "[P]robably Ed Marks was at least pointing his tongue in the general direction of his cheek" when composing the lyrics.