Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag

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Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag, and Smile, Smile, Smile is the full name of a World War I marching song, published in 1915 in London. It was written by George Henry Powell under the pseudonym of "George Asaf", and set to music by his brother Felix Powell.^[1] A play presented by the National Theatre recounts how these music hall stars rescued the song from their rejects pile and re-scored it to win a wartime competition for a marching song.^[2] It became very popular, boosting British morale despite the horrors of that war. It was one of a large number of music hall songs aimed at maintaining morale, recruiting for the forces, or defending Britain's war aims.

The song is best remembered for its chorus:^[3]

Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile,
While you’ve a lucifer to light your fag,
Smile, boys, that’s the style.
What’s the use of worrying?
It never was worth while, so
Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag,
And smile, smile, smile.

A lucifer was a popular make of match, and "fag" remains British slang for a cigarette.

The song was recalled in the title of the 1932 Laurel and Hardy film Pack Up Your Troubles where the duo are drafted and make a friend who dies during the war, then in its aftermath try to reunite his orphaned baby daughter with her family.^[4]

The song was played in the annual TV special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Snoopy (dressed in his World War I flying ace regalia) dances to this song played by Schroeder on his toy piano in a left-right-left marching pace while twirling his baton.

The song is featured in the beginning of the film, "Darling Lili", sung by Julie Andrews.

The name of the 2003 Richard Thompson album The Old Kit Bag hints at the song title but the album makes no explicit reference. When asked if the album had a theme, he had no immediate answer, then said "I suppose the title is a theme of sorts. It's a reference to the old World War I song, 'Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag,' which is about smiling and whistling a happy tune as the Germans rain shells down on you."^[5]

A version of the song is sung by Chuckie Finster in a musical episode of Rugrats.^[6]