<P> In his 1933 novel, Hizzoner the Mayor, Joel Sayre wrote of boats "tooting the official Malta welcome blast to the tempo of' Shave - and - a-haircut - two - bits, shave - and - a-haircut - two - bits, shave - and - a-haircut - two - bits,' which was soon taken up by every craft in the harbor that had a boiler," indicating that the tune was already associated by that time with the lyric . </P> <P> In 1939, Dan Shapiro, Lestor Lee and Milton Berle released "Shave and a Haircut--Shampoo," which used the tune in the closing bars and has been thought to be the origin of the lyric . </P> <P> The tune can be heard on customized car horns, while the rhythm may be tapped as a door knock or as a Morse code "dah - di - di - dah - di, di - dit" (----) at the end of an amateur radio contact . </P> <P> The former prisoner of war and U.S. Naval Seaman Doug Hegdahl reports fellow American captives in the Vietnam war would authenticate a new prisoner's American identity by tapping the first five notes of "Shave and a Haircut" against a cell wall and waiting for the appropriate response . American POWs were then able to communicate securely with one another via the quadratic alphabet code . </P>

How much is a shave and a haircut