Many of the lyrics feature humorous references to various figures of scandal and gossip in Depression-era high society. For example, one couplet refers to Sam Goldwyn's notorious box-office failure Nana, which featured a star, Anna Sten, whose English was said to be incomprehensible to all except Goldwyn, who came from the same part of Europe (though, in fact, Goldwyn was from Poland and Sten Ukraine).[2] Other 1930s society references include film producer Max Gordon, socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean and her highly promoted trip to the Russian SFSR, interior design pioneer Lady Mendl's scandalous predilection for performing hand stands and cartwheels in public at the age of 70, and the financial woes common to "old money" families during the Depression, such as the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Whitneys. Most modern versions omit these lyrics, replacing them instead with generic examples of social upheaval.