In this post today, my Chicago Now colleague The Amused Curmudgeon called for a new Chicago song. I’m always in favor of new music, but I find his critique of “That Toddlin’ Town” incomplete.

“Who else toddles but a waddling baby?” asks the Curmudgeon. Well, it turns out that babies’ toddling was named after a jazz dance popular a bit more than 100 years ago. Here’s an article from daletremont.com in which dance expert Arthur Murray describes how to dance the toddle.

It’s simple and based on what the article calls walking dances. With steps like rocking and shuffling, it sounds like a baby’s walk, so that seems to have been how the term got to be used for young walkers.

As for “things they don’t do on Broadway,” I’m not so sure that means the one in New York. I live in Edgewater, and my local groceries, drugstore and library can all be reached on Broadway. So

“On State Street, that great street, I just wanna say

They do things they don’t do on Broadway”

sounds like home to me.

Granted, the tune is a bit shaky after about a hundred years of use, but I’d say our history is here and should be kept. Rebuttals and new tunes are welcome.