Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree or in jail, would be welcomed home on their return. In October 1971, newspaper columnist Pete Hamill wrote a piece for the "New York Post" called "Going Home". In it, he told a variant of the story, in which college students on a bus trip to the beaches of Fort Lauderdale make friends with an ex-convict who is watching for a yellow handkerchief on a roadside oak in Brunswick, Georgia. Hamill claimed to have heard this story in oral tradition. In June 1972, nine months later, "Reader's Digest" reprinted "Going Home". Also in June 1972, ABC-TV aired a dramatized version
A Smile and a Ribbon A Smile and a Ribbon "A Smile and a Ribbon" is a song with music by Mark McIntyre and lyrics by Robert Wells. It was recorded by 1950s music act Patience and Prudence (McIntyre's daughters). It appeared as the B-side of the single "Tonight You Belong to Me" in 1956. The song is featured in the graphic novel "Ghost World", and in the movie version of "Ghost World". It is main character Enid Coleslaw's missing piece of childhood memorabilia, although erroneously depicts "A Smile and a Ribbon" as the main single. The song was also featured in a National Lottery