Indian Giver

I don’t shop at garage sales and thrift stores nearly as much as I used to, but when I do, I’m always on the lookout for odd things — you know, those things you’ve never run across before, things you may never see again, and things that serve no purpose other than to show them to other people. Yesterday was the annual Sun Valley garage sale, and while digging through boxes of records, I found one of those things.

This is a children’s collection of Bubble Gum music from Peter Pan Records titled “Indian Giver”. In case you’ve been living under a rock, the term “Indian Giver” has been considered to be racially insensitive for quite some time now. I remember hearing the term a lot as a little kid; as a teen, not so much. “Indian Givers” are people who give gifts and then either want them back, or want something else in trade. According to el Interneto, the term dates back to a misunderstanding in which Native Americans offered items in trade to early settlers, who mistook them for gifts and offered nothing in return. This is kind of like eating a co-workers food out of the fridge and then getting pissed when they ask you to replace it. In the ultimate irony, we (white people) later took the land back that we gave Native Americans, but that’s different because we discovered it. After they did. Or something. Man, American history is messed up. Can’t we all just have Thanksgiving and get along?

Anyway, the album’s title jumped out at me, and so I bought it. Other hits on the record include “Do the Drunk Irishman” and “Sweatin’ in the Sweatshop”. Just kidding. The other tracks include songs like “Chewy Chewy”, “Sweeter than Sugar”, and “Goody Goody Gumdrops” — typical kid songs. One thing I found interesting is there’s no traditional “track list” like you would expect on a normal album. The song titles are listed on the top of the carousel on the cover, but nowhere else. Like other compilation albums from the times, all the tracks here appear to be re-recordings of popular songs.

The back of the album contains the following message: “To Mothers: All children need to live in the land of “make believe” through music and song … it’s an essential part of “growing up”. The Peter Pan Record Library includes favorite songs and stories which have had universal appeal for youngsters., pre-school educational records, as well as current children’s melodies. For all children, music and song offers an excellent opportunity to exercise the young mind.” Moms, now you know.

I just finished converting Indian Giver to mp3 format using my iON USB turntable. The tracks have quite a bit of vinyl pops and clicks and hiss, but no scratches, so that’s good. If nothing else, the title track, a song about a fellow who gave his love to a girl and then took it back, is quite catchy. Definitely worth the .10 cents I paid for it.

Just don’t expect me to give it back!