NORTHBOROUGH – When John William Kellette (1875-1922) wrote his song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” he probably never thought it would quite reach international fame. Born in Lowell and later a resident of Northborough, where he came to live with his aunt when he was orphaned at nine years old, Kellette was a reporter, notably for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette from 1886-1902, and also a songwriter, composer, and actor. He was 34 years old when he wrote his first song. Although he wrote other songs, including “Bubbling Over” and “My Blue Bird is Singing Again,” his “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,” released in 1919, sold five million copies and was sung in the Broadway production, “The Passing Show.” It has been recorded by everyone from British pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck to the punk band The Cockney Rejects.
According to an article from September 2012 in The Hourglass, the newsletter of the Northborough Historical Society, the inspiration for the song came from an experience Kellette had in New York City when he encountered a poor young girl on the street whose friends called her “the bubble girl.” She was so nicknamed, she said, because she was always blowing soap bubbles to play.
“I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” was played in the 1919 baseball World Series in Cincinnati and has been in many movies, including Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” in 1999. Perhaps the most sensational fact about Kellette’s hit song is that the West Ham United soccer team in East London uses it as their theme song. The tune became popular in Britain in the 1920s and has been a team anthem since, where fans and players alike proudly sing the chorus before each game.
Following the thread of popularity in England, the song was played in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The song has been performed by various choral groups in Central Massachusetts, most recently at the organ recital at the Northborough Historical Society on June 15, 2024, by soloist Robyn Tarantino. Three songs by Kellette were performed by Robin Jubenville on organ and Tarantino as soprano as part of the Historical Society’s showcase of the 1874 George Stevens pipe organ that was recently tuned.
Kellette lived at 67 Main Street in a house that was built in 1870 by Jethro B. Root, who was in the comb manufacturing business of selling bone meal to factories during the heyday of the Northborough comb industry. Kellette died in 1922 at the age of 47 and is buried with his wife in Shrewsbury at Mountain View Cemetery.
