Here we have a timeless classic. Popular for many reasons. The melody is tuneful so most people can hum it and some can sing it. The message is to find joy in the everyday things and simple pleasures of life. To start writing Oscar Hammerstein II listed his favorite things including his favorite dish, Schnitzel with noodles. This in my view is not just homespun poetry. It is a masterpiece of meter, rhyme, and alliteration. Old English poetry was very big on repeating consonant sounds. At least two before the caesura, and preferably four per line. Each and every line meets that criterion and more. Lines five and six even have at least six s sounds. Line six has eight: “Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes.” Only a true genius could write that. Too bad Hammerstein died of stomach cancer a few months after composition. If he had lived, we might have gotten some more favorite things.