Whether or Not You Have a White Christmas, Make It Merry
This time of year, if you have your home or car radio tuned to a Christmas music station you will undoubtedly hear the song White Christmas, the best-selling Christmas song of all time. As the years have passed, possibly you don’t recall a little of the history of the song or maybe you have never heard the backstory. Either way, here is a little information.
On Christmas Day, 1941, only 18 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, White Christmas was sung for the first time on the Kraft Music Hall radio show by Bing Crosby.
The song was written by Irving Berlin, a Russian-born immigrant, who did not celebrate Christmas, as he was Jewish. If you detect some sadness in the song, it is because Berlin’s three-week-old son had died on Christmas day 1928. He and his wife always visited their baby’s grave on Christmas Day.
Originally written by Berlin for a Broadway revue that never happened, White Christmas was later used for the 1942 musical film Holiday Inn, starring Bing Crosby, which earned the songwriter and composer his first Oscar for Best Original Song. In 1954, it was the title song of another Bing Crosby Christmas musical, White Christmas. Both movies continue to be shown on TV during the Christmas season.
I was two years old in 1941, three in 1942 and 15 in 1954 when I first heard White Christmas while lying on my parents’ living room floor listening to our old Philco radio, with a built-in antenna; the 1954 version of wireless. They (parents) bought a black and white TV in 1955. After I was booted out, they splurged on a small color TV.
Bing Crosby often preformed for U.S. Troops overseas during WW II. “I hesitated about doing it [White Christmas] because invariably it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men, that it made them sad,” Crosby said in an interview. “Heaven knows, I didn’t come that far to make them sad. For this reason, several times I tried to cut it out of the show, but these guys just hollered for it.”
It is natural to be nostalgic during the holiday season, so think about the happy times in your life. Count your blessings for the good things you have enjoyed over the years.
Among the blessings we can count are the men and women in uniform – military, peace officers and other first responders – working to protect us and our nation. When you are shopping, and you see someone wearing a veteran’s cap or in a military uniform, thank him or her for their service and wish them Merry Christmas.
As we look toward the New Year, let us pray that the leaders of our country recognize that their main responsibility is to serve “we the people.”
Bill Kadereit, President
National Retiree Legislative Network
