This song written by Phil Baxter, a somewhat sucessful band leader during the big band era, and was a booming success when recorded by Phil Harris for Jack Benny. Complete lyrics:
I'm A Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas
The Legend of the song:
"What is a Ding Dong Daddy?
"This is the question most visitors to Dumas, Texas ask after arriving in the county seat city of Moore
County, lodged in the near northwestern top of the Texas Panhandle.
"Let’s go back to the beginning – First of all, the man who first developed the town was named Louis
Dumas and the town was his namesake. This all took place in the late 1800’s as the Texas Panhandle
was one of the final areas of the State of Texas to be developed from the raw prairie.
"Dumas, the town developer, stayed in the city with his name only a short time, but the name remains to
this day. And, what began as a dusty crossroads on the prairie above the “big blues” north and west of
Amarillo above the Canadian River began to grow. First, the town was given little chance to survive, but
the pioneer-stock was hardy stuff and they stuck it out. The small village was only 571 souls in the
1920’s and late in that decade a man who was to become a moderately successful band leader and song
writer, Phil Baxter, chanced upon Dumas. He spent a few weeks in Dumas getting acquainted and after
he had a steak continued his journey. Les than a year later Baxter penned the words and tune to a song
which he name “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas.”
"The catchy song gained national recognition when Phil Harris, band leader for the Jack Benny Radio
Show, recorded the song.
"Dumas, like many smaller towns, grew and prospered during the years prior to and during World War II.
During this time several industrial plants had been constructed and the town boasted 2,117 population in
1940. Shortly after the end of World War II, local Dumas residents organized and began operations of
radio station KDDD. The three “D’s” came from the song – I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas.
"Radio station KDDD used the song as its theme song and later early radio station manager, and later
owner, Ken Duke, commission an Amarillo commercial artist, Hut Hutson, to create an image of the Ding
Dong Daddy of the song.
"As a result, Hutson created the caricature that is the “Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” complete with radio
microphone. The radio station copyrighted the caricature and used it as its trademark. The little Ding
Dong Daddy became popular and in the early 1950’s KDDD loaned the logo to the Dumas Chamber of
Commerce for use in promoting Dumas, with the provision that the logo not be used by any commercial
business other than to boost Dumas.
"A few years later, the Chamber of Commerce created a counterpart, giving life to the Ding Dong Dolly
from Dumas.
"Plastic pins of both the “Daddy” and “Dolly” have been give wide distribution over most of the Free World
as Dumas residents have traveled and given away the small caricatures of plastic.
"Today, the Moore County Historical Museum has on display the original artwork of the “Ding Dong Daddy
from Dumas”, along with an autographed copy of the sheet music by Phil Baxter. Also a copy on tape of
the portion of a radio broadcast interview with song writer Phil Baxter and KDDD’s Ken Duke made during
the Dumas Dogie Day celebration in June, 1957.
"So, you can see that there really is a “Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” and holding or wearing one of the
Daddy pins gives the owner an attitude of being a part of the great heritage of the Panhandle of Dumas,
Texas." ~ Excerpt courtesy of “Our Town – Dumas” by Jay B. Funk