What do hard times call for? If you said hard measures, you are wrong. Hard times call for silly songs.

During the Great Depression and WWII, silly songs lifted people’s spirits, and few groups were sillier than the Hoosier Hot Shots. They tickled people’s funny bones when those bones were in sore need of tickling.

Brace yourself. Here’s a modest example of Hoosier Hot Shots material. It’s a song about a man named Otto Zilch, who (according to the song) did a very, very daring thing. I’ll quote the first and last verses and leave to your imagination the flavor of the verses in between.

“From the Indies to the Andes in his undies. And he never took a shave except on Mondays. He didn’t eat a thing but chocolate sundaes. ‘Twas a very, very daring thing to do.”

“He carried for a spare, a pair of panties. But they did not fit him well, they were his auntie’s. In his undies from the Indies to the Andes. ‘Twas a very, very daring thing to do.”

The Hoosier Hot Shots were accomplished musicians, but their choice of instruments was unusual. Gabe Ward played clarinet, Hezzie Trietsch played washboard and slide whistle, and Ken Trietsch played tenor guitar. It didn’t matter if they sang standard songs or ridiculous ones, the way they looked, acted, and performed made people laugh.

In 1934, the trio invited a fellow named Frank Kettering to join them. Kettering was a multi-instrumentalist who could play guitar, piano, organ, piccolo, and bass fiddle. This broadened the group’s musical horizons.

The Hoosier Hot Shots played on live radio broadcasts—such as the National Barn Dance on the powerful Chicago station, WLS. They made appearances in movies and recorded many songs.

In those days, recording studios didn’t have the ability to piece together the best parts of several takes and form them into a perfect whole. So singers and musicians would often do take after take of a song until they got a really good one. Not the Hot Shots. They would usually do, at most, two takes of a song and then pick the worst of the two. This allowed them to sound fresh and spontaneous.

Some of their memorable songs, in addition to the one I mentioned above, include The Coat and the Pants Do All the Work (But the Vest Gets All the Gravy);  I Like Bananas (Because They Have No Bones); and Meet Me by the Ice House, Lizzie.

One of their songs, Them Hill-Billies Are Mountain-Williams Now, is a scathing take on the success of back-country singers who became rich country music stars. Here’s a bit of the lyric:

“They came to town from them thar hills, But now they’re flashing dollar bills.
Them hillbillies are mountain Williams now.

“Oh, they shucked their boots and overalls, And even dropped their ‘How you-all’s’. Them hillbillies are mountain Williams now.”

There are videos and recordings galore of the Hoosier Hot Shots. A simple search will provide what hard times call for.