They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.<\/em><\/p>\n Left or right, much controversy surrounds the origins of The Hokey Pokey. It\u2019s a fractured history with facts in and out, lawsuits, and a dance floor of folks, and even nations, taking credit for The Hokey Pokey. Music historians have documented versions in Denmark, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand, and United Kingdom\u2019s Jimmy Kennedy, author of another perennial children\u2019s favorite \u201cTeddy Bear\u2019s Picnic\u201d copyrighted The Hokey-Cokey<\/em> in 1942. Some versions of the lyrics date back to the 17th<\/sup> century,<\/p>\n What we do know is that Larry LaPrise is a real person who was awarded the US copyright to \u201cDo the Hokey Pokey\u201d in 1950. Wikipedia states that LaPrise sold the rights to Roy Acuff\u2019s music publishing company Acuff-Rose, which in 2002 was sold to Sony\/ATV Music Publishing.We also know that Ray Anthony released a version of\u00a0“The Hokey Pokey” on the B side of “Bunny Hop.” https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=s_P9PU5FcMQ<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n To Tipsy Table\u2019s LaPrise surprise, Larry apparently\u00a0created the dance at The Sun Valley Lodge, just up the road from our Hailey, Idaho home. Larry worked at the Ketchum Post Office, and later moved to Gooding, Idaho where he died at age 82, not 93 as in the joke.<\/p>\n Yes, although not tippling the last time we shook The Hokey Pokey at age five, we agree it is a dance that most likely lends more fun when alcohol is involved. We are fairly certain most remember how to dance The Hokey Pokey, but we found this detailed description in the Wikipedia entry almost as entertaining, and as long as, the dance itself:<\/p>\n The dance follows the instructions given in the lyrics of the song, which may be prompted by a <\/em>bandleader, a participant, or a recording. A sample instruction set would be:<\/em><\/p>\n You put your [right leg] in, You put your [right leg] out; You put your [right leg] in, And you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey, And you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about!<\/em><\/p>\n Participants stand in a circle. On “in” they put the appropriate body part in the circle, and on “out” they put it out of the circle. On “And you shake it all about”, the body part is shaken three times (on “shake”, “all”, and “-bout”, respectively). Throughout “You do the hokey pokey, \/ And you turn yourself around”, the participants spin in a complete circle with the arms raised at 90\u00b0 angles and the index fingers pointed up, shaking their arms up and down and their hips side to side seven times (on “do”, “hoke-“, “poke-“, “and”, “turn”, “-self”, and “-round” respectively). For the final “That’s what it’s all about”, the participants clap with their hands out once on “that’s” and “what” each, clap under the knee with the leg lifted up on “all”, clap behind the back on “a-“, and finally one more clap with the arms out on “-bout”.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Addicted](\"http:\/\/tipsytable.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Addicted-Hokey-Pokey.jpg\")
<\/a>Motivational speakers have used The Hokey Pokey as a metaphor for developing life goals. A bumper sticker and even Jimmy Buffet asks the question on his album Far Side of the World<\/em>, \u201cWhat if the Hokey Pokey is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d Etymologists study the title\u2019s meaning\u2014is it a reference to hocus-pocus? Does cokey relate to cocaine, or the Canadian slang for \u201ccrazy.\u201d Or was hokey-pokey just slang for ice cream?<\/p>\n<\/a>Included in the book Sun Valley, An Extraordinary History<\/em> by Wendolyn Spence Holland, is this photo on page 271.<\/p>\n