My mom used to tell me the craziest things. My sister and I thought she made them up to entertain us. As an adult, I've found out she was usually right. She told me the following story awhile ago and I always wondered about it; turns out Wikipedia confirms her love for the strange-but-true once again.
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 years old at the time) in 1953.
Peevey was a regional child star of the Oklahoma City area. According to legend, this 1953 hit was recorded as a fund-raiser to bring the city zoo a hippo. When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the city zoo got a baby hippo named Matilda. In a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not recorded as a fundraiser originally. Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years."
If you saw the hippos at the OKC zoo before 2002, you too saw Mathilda, the hippo Peevey sang about and got for Christmas. Sorry for not believing you Mom...
3 comments:
Ha, that's funny! I must admit that I find that song pretty annoying though. But I do really like hippos.
I love that song. But I love simple rhyme. My favorite line is a toss up between "I'd keep him in our garage/ I'd feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage" and "Mom says a hippo would eat me up but then/ teacher says a hippo is a vegetarian" :)
Erin, this song has become my favorite this Christmas! I LOVE it! Thanks for pointing out your favorite lyrics...they're so great...classic! And happy belated birthday!
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