First named the Collegians,[1] the group was formed in 1918 at Penn State by the brothers Fred and Tom Waring and their friends Freddy Buck and Poley McClintock.
Other popular novelty songs were "I've Never Seen a Straight Banana" and "I Wonder How I Look When I'm Asleep".
In 1929 they appeared in the movie Syncopation and on stage in The New Yorkers the following year.
During the 1940s, they performed on Broadway and at the World's Fair and became the first band to broadcast its own TV show.
From 1950 to 1970, they became a corporation that branched into workshops, real estate, and a magazine.