Feb 222020

Hope all the folks out there might have heard of “The Aeroplane Jelly Song”, the longest running advertising jingle in Australia. If you are not from Australia then it is bit difficult for you to hear about this song!! But don’t panic, I am here for you to help you out with this jingle song. All you need to do is to just continue reading the following article.

Firstly, have a look at Aeroplane Jelly Song and enjoy the magic of the lyrics its tune (uploaded the YouTube version to catch the tune). Here we go with the great song lyrics.

I’ve got a song that won’t take very long,
Quite a good sort of note if I strike it . . .
It is something we eat, and I think it’s quite sweet,
And I know you are going to like it.

I like Aeroplane Jelly
Aeroplane Jelly for me.

I like it for dinner, I like it for tea,
A little each day is a good recipe,
The quality’s high as the name will imply,
And it’s made from pure fruits, one more good reason why

I like Aeroplane Jelly
Aeroplane Jelly for me.

YouTube Version

Get the song back into your life in a big way. Try watching the original tune on YouTube.

A Small Introduction to Aeroplane Jelly Song

The beautiful lyrics and amazing tune and music was given by Albert Francis Lenertz (1891 – 1943). In Australian history, this song was cleverly set out as an advertising jingle and it was the longest running advertising jingle. The two major reasons that made the song won millions of hearts are cute and catchy jingle and the little cute girl who sang it.

Background behind the Outcome of Aeroplane Jelly

Much to our surprise, the inventor of Aeroplane Jelly was a tram driver, Bert Appleroth. Bert Appleroth’s Aeroplane jelly attracted a special place in the hearts of Australians by selling jelly crystals in Sydney. These jelly crystals were the first homemade made jelly crystals by Bert Appleroth at his home in the bathtub. Also these jelly crystals are made out of Australia’s favourite jelly which is around since 1927. That is also one of the other reasons for the song becoming popular and people feel nostalgia whenever they listen to the jingle and recalls their favourite taste or flavour. Bert Appleroth distributes the jelly crystals all over Sydney along his tram ride.

Soon after Aeroplane jelly became the household name and developed its own brand name. It was the Australia’s largest family-owned food manufacturer until it was acquired by McCormick Foods in 1994. The brand was promoted and prompted in creative ways like filming advertisements (jelly being dropped from a plane on to Sydney beaches) and even in cinemas. See an early cinema advertisement of Aeroplane Jelly jingle here. Today over twenty millions of Aeroplane Jelly packets are being sold every year across Australia. That is the amazing story, right from the growth of Bert’s backyard Aeroplane Jelly’s to Australia’s most iconic brands.
Bort Appleroth afterward joined with Albert Francis Lenertz (as a partner) and formed a company called Traders Ltd launched in 1927. The Australian iconic song Aeroplane Jelly song was written by Albert Francis Lenertz and first recorded in 1930. But after eight years in 1938, a seven year old girl recorded the popular version and stood as a winner at New South Wales-wide competition.

About Recordings of the Song

Whatever the reasons, the song, Aeroplane Jelly was heavily prompted by all the Australians especially the Jelly lovers. The first recording of the song was done by Amy Rochelle, a music Hall entertainer also famous for child imitations. The best known and most popular version had come into picture when the song was sung by young Joy King with the Radio 2SM Orchestra, conducted by John Dunne. Another interesting fact was that Tommy Dawes, another finalist of the completion was the model of the whistling boy image, appeared on top of packaging for 40 years. He was paid 10 guineas for his services. The song was first heard on commercial Australian Radio in 1938 and since became the Australian culture since the song brought smiles on faces of the young and old alike. Also it was played up to 100 times a day in Sydney in 1940’s.

About Albert Francis Lenertz – 1891-1943 – “Aeroplane Jelly”

Albert Francis Lenertz (1891-1943) was also known as Albert Leonard of Marrickville or Frank Leonard, well known for writing the beautiful lyrics and catchy music for the Aeroplane Jelly song. Before Lenertz joined Appleroth’s jelly manufacturing company Traders Ltd, (later the Aeroplane Jelly Company) as a partner, he was running a wholesale wines and spirits and groceries business in Sydney.

Originally, the song was tuned as a tribute to Prime Minister Billy Hughes with the most interesting and valuable lines such as “Folk in the city and folk on the plain, Billy’s great deeds for our land can acclaim”. Around 1930 he rephrased the lyrics, which became the popular advertisement in the same year. In 2008, the jingle was added to the National Film & Sound Archive’s ‘Sounds of Australia’. Lenertz’s version was broadcast for many years.

According to an NFSA oral history with Bessie Dunne, John’s widow, for recording jingle, John Dunne conducted the 2SM orchestra and performed many roles in various programs. During that time, he was the studio manager and instrumental in bringing in program ideas from America.

Joy King: Joy King’s voice had become very popular since he sang for Aeroplane Jelly and later his voice was selected for dubbing animated cinema ads featuring ‘Bertie the Aeroplane’ (Aeroplane Fruit Jellies Advertisement: Bertie the Aeroplane), 1942, television ads (Aeroplane Jelly Advertisement: Spaceship), 1959, etc. On internet, the jingle is able to be downloaded from the Aeroplane Jelly Website. The download versions include beatnik, rock’n’roll, French and Spanish versions.

The negative films of Bertie the Aeroplane were deposited by Cam Ford, animation director in the ’60s and ’70s in Europe, with the National Film and Sound Archive. The other speciality of Cam Ford was “he was one of the many Australian animators employed on Beatles feature, Yellow Submarine in 1968.


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