Happy Little Vegemite

Have you ever wondered where the slang expression "happy little Vegemite" comes from? Was it Dame Edna or Norman Gunston or someone else in the 1980s that brought it into common usage?
Food technologist Dr. Cyril P. Callister invented Vegemite in 1923 when his employer, the Australian Fred Walker Company, had him develop a spread from brewer’s yeast after war had disrupted the supply of imported yeast spreads.
Fred Walker's daughter Sheilah, picked Vegemite's name out of a hat at random. Then from 1928 to 1935, facing growing competition from the similar British Marmite, the product was known as "Parwill" allowing a convoluted advertising slogan that said "Marmite but Parwill" that is, "Ma (mother) might not like the taste but I'm sure Pa (father) will." This attempt to expand market share was unsuccessful so the name was changed back to Vegemite. Today Vegemite far outsells Marmite and other similar spreads, at least in Australia.
For the uninitiated, Vegemite can be spread very thinly with butter to help to soften the strong taste, or with sliced or melted cheese. A variation on vegemite toast is 'tiger toast' where after spreading with vegemite, strips of cheese are melted onto the toast, creating a striking visual effect. It is also a key ingredient in the popular "Cheesymite Scroll" or "Cheddarmite Scroll" produced by bakeries in Australia, a savoury spiral pastry which includes cheese spread and Vegemite. A teaspoon of Vegemite can also be used in place of stock in some recipes.
The taste of vegemite is difficult to describe. Go on, pretend this is Playschool, close your eyes and try to define it. It’s extremely salty and slightly bitter isn’t it? But the texture is smooth, resembling margarine. Where do we go from there? We know that Vegemite is made from leftover brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacture, and various vegetable and spice additives. So and as might be expected, it has some trace of the malty, similar to the taste of beef bouillon.
You can search the net for instructions how to build an A bomb, but I don’t know if you’ll find the recipe for vegemite? Aussie Mite (created because Vegemite is now owned by an international corporation) was created by Liam 'O' Farrell, who felt that Vegemite was no longer an Australian product so he created an all-Australian spread to compete against it. The Vegemite brand is now owned by Kraft Foods, an American multinational that is part of the Altria Group of companies
While highly popular in Australia and New Zealand, Vegemite has never been successfully marketed elsewhere. We have it from reliable sources that it is not liked by all Australians. (Probably the ones that don’t like beer either.) Some find it far too salty to be palatable, but still it remains an iconic symbol of Australia. It’s notorious amongst some foreigners for the dislike it generates.
In October 2006, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported that Vegemite was banned in the USA, with Customs officials going so far as to even search Australians for Vegemite when they enter the country, but later reports cast doubt on the claim. The Food and Drug Administration later stated there was no import ban on Vegemite, and that it was never pulled from American supermarket shelves.
As for the term "happy little Vegemite", it comes from marketing campaigns begun in 1954, with a catchy jingle called "We're happy little Vegemites ".Two young twin girls known as the "Vegemite Twins", sang the advertising jingle. The lyrics to the Jingle are:
We're hap-py lit-tle Veg-e-mites
As bright as bright can be.
We all en-joy our Ve-ge-mite
For break-fast, lunch, and tea.
Our mum-mies say we're grow-ing stron-ger
Eve-ry sin-gle week,
Be-cause we love our Ve-ge-mite -
We all a-dore our Ve-ge-mite -
It puts a rose in eve-ry cheek.

Paraphrased from Wikipedia