100 Years Ago We Sang “It's A Grand Old Rag”

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Wikipedia:

The original lyric for this perennial George M. Cohan favorite came, as Cohan later explained, from an encounter he had with a Civil War veteran who fought at Gettysburg. The two men found themselves next to each other and Cohan noticed the vet held a carefully folded but ragged old flag. The man reportedly then turned to Cohan and said, "She's a grand old rag." Cohan thought it was a great line and originally named his tune "You're a Grand Old Rag." So many groups and individuals objected to calling the flag a "rag," however, that he "gave 'em what they wanted" and switched words, renaming the song "You're a Grand Old Flag."

Click the link below and you can hear one of the earliest recorded versions of this song as performed by Billy Murray and recorded February 6, 1906.

It's a Grand Old Rag

UPDATE (and HT to Cory): ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive director Stephen Worth sez,

[Billy] Murray actually did do cartoon voices. He was the original voice of Bimbo in the Max Fleischer Talkartoons, and his voice is featured in quite a few Bouncing Ball cartoons. We have one of them posted on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog. Mariutch (1930).