December 1, 2023
Why is 1940s and 1950s Christmas Music so Popular?

If you've already visited the annual Gingerbread House Festival this season, you may have noticed something a little different from previous years.  Whether you haven't visited yet (or didn't notice the spoiler alert coming below), read on to "hear" about a subtle part of the decor and mood of this year's theme.  From Executive Director Carolyn Venne.

This Year's Festival Theme:  Shiny & Brite

Beginning in 2017, the Gingerbread House Festival has adopted an annual theme to help keep the event fresh year after year.  Past themes include "A Storybook Holiday," "Peace on Earth" and "Happy Golden Days."  The theme helps to guide the festival's decorations, yes, but also the scavenger hunt prize, some items in the Shoppe and serves as optional inspiration for gingerbread house bakers.  Our theme this year is ”Shiny & Brite,” inspired by 1950s retro tinsel, kitschy reindeer and more.  If you're confused about why we spelled "Bright" incorrectly, feel free to read about Shiny Brite ornaments and their history from 1937-1962 and 2011 to the present.  (It's an interesting read about how something so specific was impacted over time by World War II.) 

For the first time, our festival theme has served as the inspiration for the music being piped into Wood Memorial Library.  This year, don't expect to hear holiday tunes from Wham! or Mariah Carey.  

All of the music (except for live performances) are 1940s and 50s classics - but you'll know the vast majority of them.

Early Christmas Carols
Dating as early as the 4th century, traditional Christmas music generally took the form of religious carols or hymns.  With the advent of printed music books in the 19th century, popular tunes were memorialized, such as "The First Noel," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Silent Night."  Religious-themed lyrics were also often assigned to traditional folk music, such as "Greensleeves" becoming "What Child is This?".

A Perfect Storm for a "White Christmas"

As World War II impacted the U.S. both home and abroad, two Christmas songs written for movies captured a bittersweet sense of longing for snowy, glistening trees and loved ones gathered in front of the fireplace.  "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was written for 1944's Meet Me In St. Louis, for a scene in which Judy Garland is trying to console her little sister about their father leaving for a job promotion in another city.  "White Christmas" first appeared in 1942's Holiday Inn before later inspiring the classic 1954 movie of the same name.  Both were instrumental in the creation of many other now-classic Christmas ballads also written during the war.  These include "I'll be Home for Christmas" (1943) and "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" (1945).

As the war ended, other songs tried to be light, like "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1949) and "Frosty the Snowman" (1950) or the rock tunes "Jingle Bell Rock" (1957) and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (1958).

In either case, that "holiday feeling" that we associate with Christmas and still come to expect was born during the 1940s and 50s.  First there was the war-era prevalence of heartfelt sentiment (what better time of the year for that to peak than during long winter days).  Then came a post-war American golden age which was a boon for cheerful merriment and fond memories.  

Technology also played a huge role, as this period saw huge advancements in the recording of music and the advent of music albums and singles, leading to the music industry as we now know it.  Combined with an increasing commercialization of Christmas, hits from the 1940s and 50s remain intrinsically tied to how we still think about Christmas today.

Do these songs create an overly idealistic vision of the season?  Maybe.  Many Christmas songs written in the 40s and 50s are "anachronistic" - a word used to describe when something doesn't reflect its current time period.  (Ponder all those horse-drawn sleighs and roaring fireplaces despite new 1950s ranch homes with central heating and attached garages.)  While we're lucky that New England is often likely to resemble "a picture print like Currier and Ives", the famous lithographic printmaker had closed more than 40 years prior to the writing of the  lyrics to "Sleigh Ride" in 1950.

Fun Facts
Despite being a classic from 1958, I bet you know what Alvin wants in "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"!  Believe it or not, this was the first and only Christmas song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart... until Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 2019.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas" (1942) is the best-selling single of all time.  "White Christmas" is also the most recorded Christmas song of all time, with hundreds of versions in various languages.  

What do Johnny Marks (writer of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer",“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree"), Irving Berlin (“White Christmas") and Mel Torme (“The Christmas Song”) have in common?  They were all Jewish.

Jimmy Boyd was 13 years old when he recorded "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in 1950.  "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was also recorded by a 13 year old, Brenda Lee in 1958.  Gayla Peevey was only 10(!) in 1953 when she sang "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas."  Which famous song was not recorded by a child?  "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" (1947) was first recorded by Spike Jones and His City Slickers with lead vocals by 28 year old George Rock. 

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?  Do you ever stop and think about how old they are, or how many times they've been re-recorded?

For Further Reading

Why our Christmas music is still stuck in the ’50s

A merry little Christmas: The wartime boom in holiday songs

The Golden Era of Christmas Songs

The 1950s Christmas:  The Christmas that Became the Future

Christmas at Midcentury, When Aluminum Trees Replaced Victorian Evergreens