For several days now, Mary had been referencing songs she was dedicating over the radio to several family members. On Saturday, January 31, 1931, she dedicated two songs to her grandchildren, Shirley and Buddie Dalin. Here is the journal entry.

Journal #1, January 31, 1931

For Shirley Dalin, Dance of the Wooden Soldier and for Honor Dalin, My Buddie.

NOTES

At the time this journal entry was written, Shirley was almost 9 years old and Buddie – Mary called him “Honor”[1. It took me awhile reading Mary’s journal to figure out that she was referring to my father, Cid “Buddie” Dalin Jr., when she wrote about “Honor”. My Aunt told me once that it was common for the first born grandson to have that nickname.] – was almost 4 years old. This photo of the two of them was probably taken about 1929 or 1930.

I believe the first song Mary was referring to was actually “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”. Time wise, the closest version I could find on YouTube was this 1923 recording by Paul Whitman and His Orchestra.

The second song, “My Buddy”, was first published in 1922. It was written by Walter Donaldson, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Click here for the 1922 version recorded by Henry Burr.