She Got a Hippopotamus for Christmas.
No, seriously. She really did.
“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”
by Gayla Peevey
December 19, 2014
Oklahoma-born child star Gayla Peevey was just ten years old when she found herself perfoming “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1953. And while her performance, poise, and natural vocal abilities are undeniably impressive, I just can’t help but feel like this poor kid reeks of “stage mother” syndrome, thereby making the whole endeavor a bit uncomfortable.
Note: I have no credible evidence that Gayla Peevey’s 10-year recording career wasn’t anything but an exciting journey where she met wonderful people, learned amazing lessons, and came out a well-adjusted adult who was emotionally prepared to take on the foibles of post-child stardom adult life with grace and ease. But here’s the thing: I kinda doubt it. Cause no one is prepared for that. Imagine a life where your formative years are ones spent where you’re actively and professionally pursuing the approval of others through a medium where that very approval hinges on your ability to perform. With consistency. Like an adult. There’s a reason why so many performers become navel-gazing lunatics.
Gayla Peevey, I’m projecting so much shit on you it’s unbelievable. Your little novelty Christmas song, adored by millions for generations, for whatever reason triggers an emotional reaction in me more related to my own narrative interpretation of what I imagine what went on behind and around it than it does as simply a song in and of itself. But I do this sort of thing. It’s my (at times) inability to be present. So why don’t I quit rambling. Or I’ll just bullet some random information instead:
- Gayla’s fans in her home-state of Oklahoma actually did buy her a hippopotamus, which she donated to the zoo. It lived for fifty years.
- Post-singing career, Peevey started her own advertising agency.
- In an odd move, perhaps one done to disassociate herself from her hippo days, Peevey began recording under the name “Jamie Horton,” yet continued to record novelty songs such as “Robot Man”and “My Little Marine.” Like I said, odd.
