History of White Christmas: the most popular Christmas song ever
White Christmas, by Bing Crosby. Image: Spotify
HISTORY OF WHITE CHRISTMAS: THE MOST POPULAR CHRISTMAS SONG
Bing Crosby‘s White Christmas is the best-selling Christmas song ever. It has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. Other estimates indicate over 100 million records have been sold, with at least 50 million of those being singles. It’s a Guinness World Record!
Most people associate the song with the 1954 movie White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. It’s a perennial Christmas season favorite, and I watch it every year.
White Christmas Movie (1954). Image: IMDB
But the song was first popularized by the 1942 film Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Irving Berlin‘s song, introduced by Bing Crosby, topped the Billboard chart for 11 weeks, returning to the number one spot again in December of 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946. It was also featured in the 1946 Irving Berlin film Blue Skies, with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.
Why is the song White Christmas so popular, and why does it always seem to come back into popularity?
World War II Popularity
White Christmas opening scene. Image: IMDB
We all recall that the film White Christmas opens with the scene of Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye on Christmas Eve entertaining the 151st Division of the U.S. Army on the front lines of World War II. But the movie, inspired by the song, was filmed in 1953.
What’s not as well known is that the original song was a Christmas favorite for the troops since the early years of the American involvement in the War in 1942.
Furthermore, Bing Crosby entertained the troops on the Armed Forces Radio Service and in person in Europe, being too old at 38 to enlist. He sang the song live on his NBC radio show just 17 days following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In December 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge, while touring with the USO at his own expense, Bing performed his song White Christmas for homesick soldiers in France. He said that it was the hardest moment of his professional life. When his nephew asked him about his toughest performance, he reported that his uncle didn’t have to think about it at all:
“Well, 1944, we were over with the USO troupe. We gave an open-air concert for 15,000 GIs and British Tommies in an open-air field in France… I had to sing White Christmas. And I had to get through the song with 15,000 guys in tears and not break up myself. Of course, a lot of those boys were killed in the Battle of the Bulge a few days later.”
My father was in France with the U.S. Army 42nd “Rainbow” Division at that time, ahead of the battle. The movie White Christmas always reminds me of that time before the Battle of the Bulge.
Bing Crosby signing autographs for U.S. soldiers in France, 1944. Image: CORBIS / Historical / Getty Images
Notably, unlike the movies he appeared in, Bing refused to wear his toupée while entertaining the troops.
“I hated that thing. If I’m entertaining troops, I’m not going to wear anything phony like a toupee. Forget it.”
He called it a “scalp doily.” And when he performed, he insisted that the front rows were reserved for enlisted men, no officers or higher-ups.
Bing Crosby performing for U.S. soldiers, 1944. Image: ullstein picture Dtl. / Getty Images
U.S. troops at the end of World War II voted Bing Crosby as the person who had done more to increase GI morale and offer hope, more than Bob Hope, Franklin Roosevelt, and Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower.
White Christmas, the Film
The film White Christmas was the Number 1 box-office hit of 1954. It was also the highest-grossing musical film at the time, and ranks among the top 100 most popular movies of all time, adjusted for inflation and population.
Danny Kaye reported that Bing Crosby was down during the filming of the movie, following the recent death of his first wife, Dixie Lee. Kaye thought it would be fun to lighten the mood for Crosby by adding a bit of improvisation to the vamp during the “Sisters” number. In that scene, Kaye keeps hitting Crosby in the stomach with his blue feather fan. Crosby stopped, and his laughter in the film is real. Kaye mentioned that after the vamp, Crosby seemed more relaxed and ready to join in the fun.
“Sisters” routine from White Christmas. Image: IMDB
White Christmas would set the stage for several American holiday songs “steeped in a misty longing for yesteryear.” An example is “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” sung by Frank Sinatra as well as Bing Crosby, which tells of the longing to be home for Christmas… “if only in my dreams.”
The Enduring Appeal of White Christmas
In a word: nostalgia. Not only did WWII veterans and their families remember it fondly, but they have done so for decades. The film is a perennial favorite.
Nostalgia refers to a sentimental longing for the past, especially for a period or place with happy personal associations. But it’s made up of two Greek words: nostos (νόστος), a word meaning “homecoming”, and algos (ἄλγος), meaning “pain,” coined by a 17th-century medical student to describe the anxiety exhibited by Swiss mercenaries fighting far away from home.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know…May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
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