I'm Forever
Blowing Bubbles

At the 1920 Imperial Session a proposal was made to start a hospital to provide free care for children. Some Shriners expressed concerns about the Shrine assuming this kind of responsibility. Prospects for approval were dimming when Noble Forrest Adair (Yaarab Temple, Atlanta) rose to speak:

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“I was lying in bed yesterday morning, about four o’clock  and some poor fellow who had strayed from the rest of the band . . . stood down there under the window for 25 minutes playing ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.’

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He said that when he awoke later, “I thought of the wandering minstrel, and I wondered if there were not a deep significance in the tune that he was playing for Shriners, ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.’ “

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He noted, “While we have spent money for songs and spent money for bands, it’s time for the Shrine to spend money for humanity.

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I want to see this thing started…Let us lay aside the soap and water and stop blowing bubbles and get down to brass tacks..Let us get rid of all technical objections.

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And if there is a Shriner in North America who objects to having paid $2 after he has seen the first crippled child helped, I will give him a check back for myself.”

 

The whole tone of the session had changed. The decision had been reached and the resolution to create Shriner’s Hospital for Children was passed unanimously.

 

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles is a popular song which debuted in 1918 and was first published in 1919.  The music was written by John Kellette. The lyrics are credited to "Jaan Kenbrovin”