UK harvest festival song 'Paintbox'/'Cauliflowers fluffy' origins?
September 22, 2021 9:39 AM   Subscribe

Most people hovering around 40 strongly remember a harvest festival song called 'Paintbox' otherwise known by its lyrics: "Cauliflowers fluffy, and cabbages green strawberries are sweeter, than any I've seen..." There are countless versions of it on YouTube and lyrics websites, but very little information as to its origins. Can you help me track down its history?

The only information I can find is that it was written by Hugh Mitchell (music) and V.P. Mitchell (lyrics). I even found Hugh Mitchell's own webpage, offering his piano skills out for hire, and mentioning he wrote the song, but with no other details.

I have a memory of asking myself a similar question about this song some 10-15 years ago, and I remember finding some information about it being written for a harvest festival song competition or something like that, maybe in the 80s, maybe in the late 70s (also according to this page on a BBC hymn book - the second edition being issued in 1988). Anyway. It's all vague, and its driving me mad that I can't find anything else now.

Thanks
posted by 0bvious to Society & Culture (2 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Can you not send a message to Hugh Mitchell via the link on that page and ask him? He might be quite pleased that someone remembers it fondly and wants to know more about it.

(FWIW, I'm British and in my 40s and don't know this song at all. I might be an outlier but it's possible that it's not as well known as you think, so might be quicker to go straight to the horse's mouth).
posted by penguin pie at 12:26 PM on September 22, 2021


penguin pie -- I topped out of primary school before this became well known, younger siblings of friends got to sing it.

0bvs, hit up the author. Given we live in another age of oral history, let is know what you learn!
posted by k3ninho at 1:13 PM on September 22, 2021


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