Should Husbands Work?

"Now if they were to ask 'should 'usbands work?' Then, I said 'no!' And them that says they oughtta is the married man's foe. If blokes with wives 'ave got to work then what I want to know is 'what does a man get married for?' In the song Should Husbands Work? Charles Coborn gets rather worked up when a daily newspaper editor broaches the subject of should wives work. For, as Charles sees it, what else should a wife do but work and keep the 'usband. Otherwise you get people with ridiculous ideas like sending a bloke orf ter work. The very idea. Charles is so upset at the suggestion he considers forming the Husbands Protection Assassination. He accuses the editor of preaching hanarchy, and thinks the Government ought to intervene and 'ave the said individual examined and carted off to Colney Hatch. Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum was a massive institution for the mentally ill in north London which was later known as Friern Hospital (doubtless an attempt to lose the widely-used phrase 'booby hatch') and eventually closed in the early '90s. You might not be surprised to learn luxury flats have since appeared there. Those who know more about the music hall tradition will know of more songs that refer to Colney Hatch. One I do know of is Ben Lawes' Up From The Country. This Charles Coborn recording is from early in the twentieth century and appears on the essential Saydisc set Cockney Kings Of The Music Hall. Charles Coborn himself was a great of the 'alls, an erudite east ender who took his stage name from a road in Mile End, who could play a variety of characters, from costers to swells. It is as the latter he is best known for Two Lovely Black Eyes and The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo. Here he is captured on film, performing when he must have been in his 80s ...