Gail wrote me:
Greetings Lisa,
I am wondering if you have ever heard of a Dutch children’s song that starts out: “In the Vintertime when the vind blows…” some of the other words were vindowpane and vestibule. It goes something like:
In the wintertime when the wind blows (and something) then frost forms on the windowpane… (something else) and then a phase containing – in the vestibule.
Thank you so much for your assistance. My grandmother used to sing it to me and I don’t remember the words. I having been trying to find out about this little ditty for around 30 years. With your help, I may finally get an answer.
Thank you so much!
Gail E. Mann
If anyone can help with this song, in Dutch and/or English, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
This article was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 9:43 am and is filed under Belgium, Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Dutch, Dutch Children's Songs, Holland, Languages, Netherlands, Questions, Readers Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
62 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with a Dutch Song that goes “”In the Vintertime when the vind blows…””?”
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November 2nd, 2007 at 4:55 am
“In der vintertime
In der valley green
Ven der vind blows upon
Der vinderpane,
All der vimminvolk
In der Vauderville
Ride velocipedes upon
Der vestibule.
Ach, vimmin, ach men!
Ach vimmin, ach men!”
November 5th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Dear Monique.
Thank you SO much. I have looked for those words for 40 years and you answered in less than 4 days. I can’t thank you enough!!
Sincerely,
Gail E. Mann
November 18th, 2007 at 10:49 am
I have a different version with 3 verses.It is titled In the Vinter and all w’s must be changed to v’s’.
In the Vinter
(I have inclued the melody above each syllable. The melody is closesly related to the song Did You Ever See a Lassie?)
g b d–e d c b a g g g a d d d b b g
In the vinter, in the vintertime Ven the vind blows on the vindowpanes,
g b d–e d c b g g g a a d d d b b g
And the vimmen with the vescoats,leave velocipedes on the vestibules.
g a d d b g a d d g
Ah,vimmen,ah men. Ah,vimmen, ah ,men.
In the vinter, in the vintertime,ven the snow comes villy nilly,
And it vavers very vonderful, as it vafts to the vestvard.
Ah, vimmen, ah,men. Ah, vimmen, ah men.
In the vinter, in the vintertime, Ven the vind vistles on the valentines,
Vich is velcome to the vimmen folks,Vat is vorking in the vaxvorks.
Ah,vimmen, ah men. Ah,vimmen, ah,men.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Dear Phyllis,
I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to thank you for your reply. I think that your version is the closest to the one that my grandmother used to sing! The tune was like “Did you ever see a lassie.” Thank you so much for bringing back so many wonderful memories and a long frustrating search!
Thanks again and Happy New Year!
Gail E. Mann
February 8th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Hello, I just want to say, this is certainly not Dutch. Does anyone know what language this is?
February 9th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Sure, it’s English, but the w’s have been changed to v’s and the’s to der’s + some trifles (ach/ vimmin/vimmen = ah women… )
May 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I learned a different version when I was little. The person who taught it to me said it came from vaudeville.
In the valley, in the vintertime,
When the vind blows upon the vindowpanes,
And the vimmen in the vaudevilles
Ride velocipedes in the vestibules.
Ah, women!
A-men!
September 16th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I heard it as a child too. My memory is so bad, all I could remember was the following which I usually sang to myself:
“and der vimmen in der vaudeville ride velocipedes upon der vindowpane.”
I was happy to finally get the lyrics straight. Thanks.
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
In the Vinter in the Vintertime when the vind blows on the vindowpane and the vimmin in the vaudeville ride velocipedes in the Vestibule-
It took me about 70 years to find the velociipedes line.
September 4th, 2010 at 11:21 am
“It vas vinter in da valleygreen,
and da vind blew against da vindowpane,
and da vimmen in da vaudeville rode velicipedes around da vestibule
of da Viking Hotel.
Fa-a-a-rgo North Dakota.
UFF-DA!
A little ditty my mother and her sister sang often when they got together, ditty from their childhood, neither knew what it was or meant. From the 1920’s to 1930’s I believe. Obviously a radio commercial I discerned.
September 7th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
My father, born and raised in Arnegard, North Dakota always sang it thus:
In Da Vinter Time in Da valley green
Ven the Vind Blows on da Vindowpane
All da VimminFolk in da Vaudeville
Ride Velocipedes
Round da Vestibule.
He never said, but we always assumed it was of Scandenavian origin.
October 29th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
My variation (which my mom used to sing):
In the vintertime in the valley green
ven the vind blows on the vindowpane
and the vimmen from the vaudeville
ride velocipedes on the vindowsill…
Ah, men. Ah, vimmen!
I know the vindowsill doesn’t make much sense, but it rhymes. And I kind of like the image of little vimmen on tiny velocipedes.
December 7th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
My mother’s version (Minnesota)
It was vinter in the valley green
and the vind blew around the vindowsills
and the vimen from the voudeville
rode velocipedes around the vestibule
at the Viking Hotel
February 19th, 2011 at 10:00 am
In the winter when the wind blows
Through the window down where the street goes
there the women of the vaudeville
go velocipeding round the windmill.
Ah, Men.
Ah, women.
April 11th, 2012 at 11:13 pm
The diddy that was sung at Boy Scout camp fires I am sure was a derivative of the above originals.However, it went like this:
In the valley in the vinter time,
When the vind blows against the vindow pane,
the Vimmen vere studying vilosophy at the Viking Hotel !
Ah, ah, vimmen !!
May 21st, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Ven it’s vintner in da valley green all da vomen from da vaudeville go velocipiding in da vestibule of da viking hotel.
May 21st, 2012 at 6:24 pm
This is the Norse ditty as I remember it from my childhood in Newfoundland.
Leonard Martin
January 7th, 2013 at 6:28 pm
I heard this from my German-American grandmother but all I remember is: Ven da vind blows tru da ventibule in da vintertime…
I been lookin for da rest…I mean, I’ve been looking for the rest.
April 8th, 2013 at 10:26 am
My mother’s version was:
In the valley in the vintertime
Ven the vind blows around the vindmill
The vimmen in the vaudeville
Ride velocipedes around the vestibule.
Sometimes she would sing it with all “w”sounds instead of all “v” sounds.
June 24th, 2013 at 2:31 pm
Our mother used to sing it (as I recall):
In de vinter time in the valley green
Ven the vind blows on the vinderscreen
And the vimmen folks in the vaudeville
Ride velocipedes (in the vestibule? – I thought it was “on the vindowsill,” which fit the nonsensical tone of the song)
August 4th, 2013 at 7:57 pm
I looked this up specifically because after 65 years. this song my dad used to sing came into my head. He was Norweigan and would sing with an accent, but I”ve forgotten the last line. It went like this:
In the vintertime when the vind a blows,
Look the vindow out where the street a goes.
See the vimmin on their velocipeds
‘Round the vindmill (wish I could remember the rest.) any help?
September 16th, 2013 at 4:46 am
I knew it as a Pennsylvania Dutch/Mennonite ditty:
” In der valley in der vintertime, ven der vind blows through der vindows
And der vimmen ride veloscepes around der vestibule all day.
Ach ja vimmen
Ach ja men……..?”
September 18th, 2013 at 11:41 am
My father, who was of German-Jewish extraction, always sang this song with a Yiddish accent, so I had assumed it was a Yiddish nonsense song. His version was closest to Hal’s [above.]
In the vintertime, in the valley green,
When the vind blows on the vindowpane,
And the vimmen in the vaud-e-ville
Ride velocipedes around the vestibule !
November 19th, 2013 at 10:53 pm
I heard this in my childhood from my mother and German grandmother, or possibly from my grandfather, so I assumed it was German-American-Wisconsin humor. The lyrics I remember are slightly different:
In the Vinter in der vaudeville
ven der vind blows ’round der vindersill,
All de vimmen in der vaudeville
ride velestipedes around the vestibule.
It’s nice to finally find someone else who remembers this ditty!
December 10th, 2013 at 2:45 pm
My father, not one to be all that enthusiastic about life as he knew it, would often break out. “In the vintertime, in the valley green, ven the vind blows against the vindow pane, and the vomen volk of the vaudeville ride their velosipedes down the vestibule. Ah, women and men!” with great emphasis on the last four words and a rise of the arm and hand. His second favorite was, “I am one Charles Geteau, my name I’ll never deny, for the murder of James A Garfield I am condemned to die.” followed by ‘The boy stood on the burning deck when all about him fled”……………………………………..and that was it for a few more years.
March 4th, 2014 at 10:50 am
OMG I was trying to remember this nonsense song for my grandson. I learned it 1960s at Michigan summer camp. Thanks. You all filled in the first part. Mine went much further after Ah men, ah vimmen…. Copenhagen was taken hurrah, hurrah(2). (spoken:) And all the schtraight people schtood up in the schteeple and schpit on the people below. My little brother Heimlich by the window stood. He spied a tree there standing , and on the tree a peach there hanging. He leaned the vindow out, he fell the vindow out. His bones lay on the rocks below. (Sung:) He died he did, he died a broken rib he did. He died he did he died a broken rib. Oh we’re the boys from Bowling Green, Bowling Green, Bowling Green(2). (spoken:)Boys! Don’t bowl on the Green, The Green is for the king, the king is for the queen. The queen is for the prince. Prince? What Prince? Footprints? Nah. Fingerprints? Nah. Here Prince!…. (whistle like calling for a dog) So how’s your mother?!
March 4th, 2014 at 11:10 am
That’s cool Barbara!
April 27th, 2014 at 11:28 pm
In the vinter, in the vintertime
Vhen the vimmens in the vaudevilles
Ride velocipedes in the vestibules,
A vimmens, amen!
My mother used to sing it too. It came from an old book called “Soft Boiled Ballads,” which you can find through sites like abebooks.com.
June 17th, 2014 at 3:19 pm
Ven it’s vintertime in the valley green
And the vind blows down de vindopane
De vimmen from the vaudeville
Go voltipating through the vestibule
Of the Viking Hotel
June 22nd, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Here’s how my father sang it when I was a kid:
In the wintertime
By the valley green
When the wind blows
On the window pane
And the women ride
Their velocipedes
‘Round the vestibule
By the water wheel.
Ah women, ah men.
Of course, all the leading W sounds were replaced with a V sound, making it seem rather German (or, at least, Germanic). I also think that the final line could be interpreted as “Ah women, amen.”
August 22nd, 2014 at 11:46 pm
My Danish grandfather used to sing this to entertain us when we were little.
Ven it’s vinter in da valley green, and da vind blows through the vindowpane, da vomen of da vaudeville ride a velocipede around the vestibule of da viking hotel.
August 22nd, 2014 at 11:48 pm
My Danish grandfather used to sing this to entertain us when we were little.
Ven it’s vinter in da valley green, and da vind blows through the vindowpane, da vomen of da vaudeville ride a velocipede around the vestibule of da viking hotel.
August 24th, 2014 at 2:57 pm
My father was born in the 1880s in the Sieg River area of Germany, went to England at age 14 and escaped the war by taking a boat to NYC in 1918. He sang this in a strong German accent, in a version I don’t see the same:
Ven it’s vinter in der Velgrave
And de vind blows against de vindopane
And the vimmen in de Vauderville
Ride velocipes aound the vestibule
In de Viking Hotel, Yah Yah!
September 28th, 2014 at 3:58 pm
My German-speaking Ukrainian grandmother sang it this way,
75 years ago when I was a child:
In the valley, in the vintertime,
Ven the vind blows on the vindowpanes,
Then the vimen in the vaudeville
Ride velocipedes in the vestibule.
PS: She was US-educated (at the girls’ school that Stanford U. had early on),
and was aware of the w-to-v shift, for fun.
September 28th, 2014 at 9:46 pm
I learned, back in the early 1950’s:
“Ah, Visconsin in da vintertime ven da vind blows through da vindowpane, and da vimmen in da Vaudeville ride velocipedes around da vestibule! Aah aah vimmen! Aah aah men!
I do remember the tune.
September 28th, 2014 at 10:59 pm
If you’d like to share the tune that would be great! :) -Mama Lisa
October 8th, 2014 at 8:59 am
Yet another version:
In the vintertime
Ven the vind blows
Look your vindow out
Vere the street goes
See the vimmenfolk
On velocipedes
Doing vaudeville
Round the vindy hill
Taught to me by my (Canadian) mother in the 1940’s or early ’50’s
October 24th, 2014 at 11:24 pm
Like Barbara, I learned the long version at Girl Scout camp, but in Wisconsin in the 1970’s. I can’t write the tune, but if you like I would be happy to send you an email with video of how it goes. I loved this song – thank you for this site, as no one else has ever seemed to have heard of it!
May 22nd, 2015 at 12:50 am
My Ukrainian grandmother sang this when I was a child. (I’m now 82.)
First of all, I been told that all the v’s were used in order to make fun of the German-speaking immigrants (of which she was one), who commonly mispronounced English by converting w’s into v’s. Here’s the version I know:
In the valley in the vintertime,
when the vind blows on the vindowpanes,
then the vimen in the vaudeville
ride velocipedes in the vestibule.
July 30th, 2015 at 10:06 pm
How strange this whole thing is. And, yet, it is.
“In de vinter, in de valley,
ven de vind blew against de vindow panes, and
de vimmen in de vestibule rode velocepes around …”
and then, our father (1923-2008) of Danish ancestry would shout!
“aaah ,,, Vimmen! aaah … Men!!”
July 30th, 2015 at 10:06 pm
Comments are welcome.
December 19th, 2015 at 1:15 pm
In der vinder in der vinder time ven the vin blows round der vinder pane and der vimmen in the vaudeville ride the velocipedes around the vestibule. Ah vimmen, ah men.
My mother would occasionally sing the song this way while playing the piano and said she had learned it while participating in a play at Farmville Teacher’s College, now Longwood University, class of 1929. Occasionally now I will find myself absent mindedly whistling the tune while working
January 10th, 2016 at 10:24 pm
You’ll find more information about it (different lyrics & midi) here…. http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=34789
January 10th, 2016 at 10:32 pm
Here’s Carl Sandburg’s version (which you can hear on Spotify):
In de Vinter Time
In de vinter, in de vinter-time,
Ven de vin’ blows on de vindow-pane
An’ de vimmen, in de vaud’vil
Ride de veloc’pede in de vestibule,
Ah, vimmens!
Ah, mens!
January 25th, 2016 at 12:02 am
We would sing it through with “v” then with “t” (In the tinter in the talley green), then with “k” (In the kinter in the kalley green..) until we got tired of it.
August 26th, 2016 at 9:34 am
Happy to find this website, and to read everyone’s comments. I sang this funny song at a summer camp in Ontario, taught to us by our counsellor, who was from Ann Arbor, MI. The melody goes to the tune of “Did you ever see a lassie, a lassie, a lassie”. Here is my rendition of the lyrics, which are similar to Barbara [above].
It vas vinter in the valley green, and the vind blew against the vindow pane.
And the vimen in the vaudeville, rode velocipedes in the vestibules.
Copenhagen was taken, hurrah, hurrah! Copenhagen was taken, hurrah, hurrah!
[spoken]
And all the shtraight people shtood up in the shteeple and shpit on the people below.
Aah, aah, vimen! Aah, aah men!!
[sung]
Off to Lieber August, September, October. No vonder we are sober, we ain’t got no beer!
[spoken]
My little brother Heinrich, by the window stood.
Inside, out looking, he saw a tree there standing.
And on the tree, a peach there hanging.
He leaned the window out,
He fell the window out,
His head there lay upon a rock.
Peach less!
[sung]
He died, he did, he died of a broken rib, he did!
He died, he did, he died of a broken rib!
Oh we’re the boys from Bowling Green, Bowling Green, Bowling Green
Oh we’re the boys from Bowling Green…
[spoken]
Boys! Don’t bowl on the green!
The green is for the King!
The King is for the Queen!
The Queen is for the Prince!
Prince, what Prince?
Foot prints? Naah!
Finger prints? Naah!
Here, Prince!
The moral of the story is to be able to tell the difference between asthma (Aaaahh [breathe in]) and passion (Aaaahh [breathe out, sighing]). How’s your mother?
March 18th, 2017 at 4:08 am
My dad, son of Swedish immigrants always put his own twist on this song…In the Vintertime when the Vind blows thru the Vindowpane of the Vindows, all the Vimmenfolk from the Vaudville rode their velocipedes to the Vassacloset ! (watercloset was the public bathroom )
March 28th, 2017 at 1:22 pm
We used to sing it together at table when at my German-American grandfather’s house for holidays. He was in the beer and malt business and I suspect this was a drinking song at beer conventions or gatherings. My father also sang it at family get-togethers as his trademark party piece. The Ws would be sung as Vs, (but, we wondered, should you sing Vs as Ws?) and sung very slowly first but it would be repeated, each time faster, until you stumbled over the words, or not.
” In da vinter time, in da valley-green, ven da vind blows, on da vindowpane…
and da vimmenfolk, from da vaudeville, ride vel-o-co-pedes, in da vestibule, of da Vik-ing ho-tel…
aaah vimmen…
a-a-ah …”(repeat song faster here a couple times) “…men!” (added at end of last repeat)
June 23rd, 2017 at 8:50 pm
Here’s my mothers version from the early 40s: ‘Twas vinter in the valley green. And the vind blew through the vindowscreen. And the vimmen of the vaudevile rode velocipdes through the vestibule of the Viking Hotel. The tune was Did you ever see a Lassie.
August 7th, 2017 at 10:46 pm
Mine was the same as Joy’s (except no beer line) and I grew up in Michigan as well! But went a sentence further:
How’s your mother? How’s your father? Sister, brother too.. and while we’re on the subject — how are you??
October 23rd, 2017 at 6:14 am
Oh wow, I’m so glad I found this (10 years late! 😂) My Grandmother also sang this to me, as a child, and I have been trying so hard to remember it. I have one more verse for you, if you’d like! :
Ain’t is nice in the Summertime
When the littenbugs and the
Hemmin birds and the yulpin frogs wit
The googly eyes sing quartets in the
Grass together.
*and rather than quartets, I feel like the word sounded like “cuvoirtettes”, but I found nothing within searching for it. What a great thread, thanks again for posting!!
November 27th, 2017 at 1:18 am
My mother from Chicago sang these lyrics:
In the wintertime in the valley green,
When the wind blows on the windowpane,
You can watch the womenfolk from the waterworks
Riding velocipedes on the waterfall.
January 27th, 2018 at 2:08 pm
I grew up with a Swedish grandmother and Swedish neighbors next door who often transposed a v for a w. My neighbor had a great sense of humor, would say, “Yoost ven I learned to say ‘jelly,’ dey changed it to ‘yam.’” But it was in Boy Scouts where we sang the little alliteration ditty (to the tune of “Did you ever see a Lassie”) around the campfire:
In da valley in da vintertime,
Ven da vind blows on da vindowpane,
And da vimmin in da vaudville,
Rode velocipedes to da vestibule,
Of da Viking Hotel.
Ah-AH vimmin!
This would be sung again faster, and again still faster and faster until everyone was breaking up, and it was end with Ah-AH MEN!
Many of the Swedes who came to America in the late 19th Century and early 20th (my grandmother, 1905), had to learn most of their English on site by ear. The accents became regional until television. In sixty-five years, even the regional accents are blending off to a distinctly American neutral so that it takes a good ear to place them.
—RICK
February 6th, 2018 at 6:55 pm
Ach du lieber August, September,October
No wonder we’re sober
We aint got no beer.
Song learned in East London 1930 ‘s
Maybe in my book, Cockney Girl about growing up Jewish in East London before during and post WW2. If this one is not there there are probably others.
also a skipping song:
Down in the valley where the green grass grows, dear little (name of skipper) grows like a rose
She grows, she grows, she grows so sweetly
Down in the valley where the green grass grows. (skipper leaves the rope turned by two girls)
My teacher’s got a bunion a face like a pickled onion, a nose like a squashed tomato and legs like matchsticks. etc. have a dozen of them.
February 7th, 2018 at 1:51 pm
We’d love to learn more of your skipping songs Gilda! -Mama Lisa
June 13th, 2018 at 7:49 pm
I think this version came from my South Carolinean father:
In the vinter time, in the valley deep
Ven the vind blows on de veathervane
And the vimmen folk from the vaudeville
Ride velocipedes on de vindowsill.
And a different tune:
FFFCCAAAGF
GGGCAAAGF
GGGCAAAGF
GGGCAAAGF
FDF
June 18th, 2018 at 3:16 am
It is SO fascinating that people learn and remember such diverse varieties of nonsense songs & ditties. I sang what I remembered into Google & this blog/ site was the first (and only) response that contained what I was looking for.
Here is our family’s version:
In the vinter, ven ze vind blows
Out the vindow vhere ze street goes
All ze vomen of ze Vasserville
Ride velocipedes around ze vindmill
Ah vomen, amen!
October 8th, 2018 at 2:08 am
My Minnesota version goes like this:
It vas vinter in da vinterland and da vind blew tru da vinderpane and da ladies rode welocopes tru da westibule of da wiking hotel…
October 8th, 2018 at 8:01 pm
In der vinter ven der vind blows
Look der vindow out where der vater flows
See der vimmen in der vaudeville
Ride velocopedes around der vindmill.
From my father born near Holland Michigan in 1906.
June 19th, 2019 at 2:13 am
My dad, born in 1905 was of German/Dutch descent and his family were first in Pennsylvania and then moved to Nebraska. I remember him singing this silly version:
In the village in the vintertime
ven the vind blows upon the vindow pane
All the vimmin ride velocipedes
‘round the vater vell in their undervare.
July 10th, 2019 at 7:43 pm
This song was recorded and published by Oscar Brand. I used to own a copy of it many years ago. The album title was “Absolute Nonsense”, and “In the Vinter” is listed as number 14 out of 18 songs. Wikipedia’s “Oscar Brand discography” lists it as a “1948-Riverside” album.
July 10th, 2019 at 7:54 pm
Thanks for the info Evan! Before that it was published in 1927 in Carl Sandburg’s “American Songbag” – An Anthology of American Folksongs.