Rahm Emanuel Proclaims Allan Sherman Day

Allan Sherman

By Anne Cohen August 28, 2013

For citizens of the Windy City, August 31 will now be known as Allan Sherman Day.

Really, Rahm Emmanuel says so.

The Chicago Mayoral Proclamation marks the 50th anniversary the singer’s iconic “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh!”, released on the Chicago native’s third album, “My Son, The Nut.” The album became the #1 bestselling album in the country in August 1963.

The official announcement comes at the request of Mark Cohen, author of “Overweight Sensation: The Life and Comedy of Allan Sherman.”

Born in Chicago on November 30, 1924, Sherman rose to fame in 1962 with his first album, “My Son, The Folk Singer,” quickly followed by “My Son, The Celebrity.” His experiences living with immigrant grandparents Leon and Esther Sherman at 3219 West Division Street led him to produce such memorable hits as the “Sarah Jackman” parody of “Frere Jacques, “Won’t You Come Home, Disraeli,” based on “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey,” and “Harvey and Sheila,” based on — you guessed it — Hava Nagilah.

According to a statement released by Cohen, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh,” about the teenage woes of a boy stuck at Camp Granada, struck such a cultural nerve that Billboard reported people “actually breaking down doors of record stores.”

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

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