My Ami (for polishing and cleaning) is a take-off of Bon Ami cleanser/scouring powder.
"Rub-Em-Off and his Wioleen" was a parody of David Rubinoff, a popular Russian violinist, who was heard during the 1930s and 1940s on various radio programs playing his $100,000 Stradivarius violin. He was often billed as "Rubinoff and his Violin." He died in 1986 at the age of 99.
The short features the song "Merrily We Roll Along"; this would become the opening theme for the Merrie Melodies cartoons, starting with Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936).
The sign reading "Atwater Kant. Kan You?" is a reference to the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company, the largest maker of radios in the United States at the time. The company also sponsored the popular "Atwater Kent Hour," a top-rated radio concert music program heard on NBC and CBS from 1926 to 1934. The show featured top entertainers and was one of the most popular radio programs of the era.
The gag with the worm spanking the chick was carried over from the short Pop Goes Your Heart (1934).