An interesting reference to barbershop appears this week in The Atlantic:
"Though there is some debate, credit for the first commercial jingle usually goes to a Wheaties spot in 1926. The company that made Wheaties, the Minnesota-based Washburn Crosby (the predecessor of General Mills), tried to resurrect the flagging cereal on the radio with a song from a local barbershop quartet. It went like this:
Have you tried Wheaties?
They're whole wheat with all of the bran.
Won't you try Wheaties?
For wheat is the best food of man.
They're crispy and crunchy
The whole year through,
The kiddies never tire of them
and neither will you.
So just try Wheaties
The best breakfast food in the land.
The Harmonizer reported on this with additional background in 1999, when Northland Gold quartet from the Land o' Lakes District appeared at a General Mills corporate event:
via What Killed the Jingle? - The Atlantic. (Tip o' the skimmer to Gordon Moe for the link!)