The Forgotten History of ‘White Christmas’
Behind the beloved song is a surprisingly sad story
Along with Christmas trees, Santa Claus and presents, Christmas music is an integral part of the holiday season. Christmas songs are inescapable; they can be heard in stores, on television, in seasonal movies and on radio stations, some of which play them incessantly during holiday music marathons.
Christmas carols are typically jolly, but there is one that has a melancholy melody and wistful lyrics that seem contradictory to the joy of the season: White Christmas. Yet White Christmas is considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the best-selling single recording of all time.
White Christmas is distinctly different from most any other Christmas song for several reasons.
It was first heard on the first Christmas after Pearl Harbor.
On December 25, 1941, Bing Crosby debuted White Christmas on “Kraft Music Hall,” a popular national radio show.
On December 7 of that same year, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. With this horrible event still fresh in the minds of American citizens, the somber sounding White Christmas struck a chord.
