ABSTRACT
At the height of its commercial popularity, the early twentieth-century music publishing industry in the United States, often referred to as Tin Pan Alley, manufactured thousands of songs yearly on every conceivable subject and for performing forces ranging from piano and voice to big band to saxophone and even mandolin orchestra. The historical importance of sheet music for this repertoire lies in part in the information about social issues reflected in the subjects chosen for songs and their lyrics. Songs about Prohibition, World War I, city life, and even new clothing fads were common fodder for songwriters and today provide humorous and often remarkably perceptive viewpoints about cultural trends. 1 A surprising number of songs from this period include disability—most notably stuttering—among their subject matter. With a thorough analysis of documentary evidence—all derived from sheet music—this chapter explores the formulaic narratives told by Tin Pan Alley to show how people who stutter were portrayed and to examine the stories being told about people with disabilities in general. 2
