Paul Eggert asks about "Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean", the title of
a piano roll [030226 MMDigest].  They were indeed a vaudeville team,
performing from about 1921 to 1926.  Al Shean (note the spelling)
was the brother of Minnie (Schoenberg) Marx, whose sons were also
famous in show business.  Al and Ed first had a show in 1915, but
they quarreled and split up.  Minnie got them back together for
their '20s streak, and then they split up again.

The song in question was very popular and often parodied.  Supposedly
Al and Ed never performed it the same way twice.  For lots more, see
any or all of these sites:

  http://members.rogers.com/vaudeville/vaudgs.htm
  http://w1.660.telia.com/~u66005454/shean.htm
  http://www.marx-brothers.org/living/
  http://www.whyaduck.com/sounds/streaming.htm

The exciting set of obituaries for Mr. Shean's nephews that appears at
http://members.iglou.com/jtmajor/MarxObit.htm  attempts to improve on
reality, and should not be taken as precisely true.

Peter Neilson