Aeroplane Jelly Song

Aeroplane Jelly became an Australian icon in the early days of radio, mainly due to a very catchy simple jingle and some savvy marketing. It is apparently the longest running advertising jingle in Australia. It was written in 1930 by grocer Albert Francis Lenertz who was a composer and managing director of Traders Ltd, which produced the jelly. Albert was also known as Frank Leonard of Marrickville. According to the National Library of Australia's cover page to the sheet music, Frank Leonard lived at 284 Victoria Road, Marrickville. This is now Marrickville Liquor Centre. Now I can't go past that bottlo without getting an earworm of that jingle. It goes to show that Marrickville's association with aircraft noise is a lot older than most suspect.

And the current policy of sharing aircraft noise also goes back to then. Originally recorded by a music hall entertainer called Amy Rochelle, who did child impersonations, the song was re-recorded in 1938 after a NSW statewide competition. Seven year old Joy King sung the version that has persisted for over 70 years. What a legacy that woman had to carry. "Grandma, do it again...."

The jingle was Australia's first taste of mass saturation marketing. Frank Leonard also announced and produced radio shows on 2KY and 2SM , where it was his signature tune (Now I can't pass up an obvious Mrs Slocombe moment - KY Jelly, SM Jelly *snigger*). The song ended up being played over Sydney more than a hundred times a day. Now that is aircraft noise that would have a few people in Summer Hill wearing out their fountain pens.

I'll endeavour to find out more of Albert Francis Lenertz, aka Frank Leonard of Marrickville. He and the founder of Traders Ltd, Adolphus Herbert Frederick Norman Appleroth (!),  had a store on Alice Street, Newtown. Lenertz also composed "Newtown is an Old Town that I Love". More later.

Sources: Australian Screen, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Library of Australia