Which children’s shoe commercial asked, “Does your shoe have a boy inside”?

Buster Brown was the title character in a comic strip first published in the New York Herald on May 4, 1902. The author, Richard F. Outcault, sold licenses allowing companies to use Buster Brown and related characters for advertising. At the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, Outcault met sales executive John Bush, who convinced his company, Brown Shoes, to buy the rights.

Buster was a pretty boy but a prankster. As the Brown Shoes mascot, he was portrayed by little people across the country through 1930, with his dog, Tige, a talking pit bull whose speech was not heard by adults. The two were portrayed by little people and big dogs in personal appearances, on Broadway, in film, on the radio, and on TV. Their likeness eventually appeared inside every pair of Buster Brown Shoes, at the back.

The lyrics of the jingle used in Buster Brown ads are, “Does your shoe have a boy inside? What a funny place for a boy to hide. Does your shoe have a dog there, too? A boy and a dog and a foot in a shoe. Well, the boy is Buster Brown and the dog is Tige, his friend. And they’re really just a picture, but it’s fun to play pretend. So, if boys and girls like you want some fun, get the shoe with the picture of the boy and the dog inside, so you can put your foot in, too! Buster Brown Shoes! Arf! Arf!”

Another version advised parents: “So, look, look look, in the telephone book for the store that sells the shoe…”