I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

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"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas Are My Ears On Straight.jpg
Single by Gayla Peevey
B-side "Are My Ears on Straight?"
ReleasedNovember 11, 1953 (U.S.)
Genre
Length2:38
Label Columbia (no. 4-40106)
Songwriter John Rox

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox [a] and performed by 10-year-old Gayla Peevey in 1953. The song peaked at number 24 on Billboard magazine's pop chart in December 1953. [8]

Contents

History

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" was released by Columbia Records, with the B-side of the original record featuring "Are My Ears on Straight?". [9] Upon its national release, the song shot to the top of the charts. Peevey performed the song on the November 13, 1953 episode of The Ed Sullivan Show , which had been recorded earlier in October.[ citation needed ]

A popular legend holds that the 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo , but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser. [10] Instead, the Oklahoma City Zoo (located in Peevey's birthplace of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) [11] and a local newspaper, picking up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, launched the Gayla Peevey hippo fund so Peevey could be presented with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. [12] The campaign succeeded, and Peevey was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which—as had been planned all along—she donated to the city zoo. [12] The hippopotamus, named Matilda,[ citation needed ] lived for nearly 50 years. [10] In 2017, Peevey, then 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus from the San Diego Zoo. [12] [13]

In a 2010 interview, Peevey said that she had never received any royalties from the song. [14] [15] By 2016, however, she discovered that there was an account under her name with Sony Music from which she could claim royalties and she was also getting revenue for the song through iTunes. [16]

Other releases

Notes

  1. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Local Song Writer Dies", The Winterset Madisonian (Winterset, Iowa), August 14, 1957.
  2. ↑ "Alice Pearce's Nuptials", The New York Times, May 23, 1948, p. 65.
  3. ↑ "John R. Rox" [sic], The New York Times, August 6, 1957, p. 26.
  4. ↑ "John J. Rox, Song Writer", The Washington Post, August 8, 1957, p. B-2.
  5. ↑ "John Jefferson Rox" in Notable Names in the American Theatre. James T. White & Co., 1976. ISBN   0-88371-018-8.
  6. ↑ Renewal registration RE0000084409, February 23, 1981, of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", by John Jefferson Rox, U.S. Copyright Office database on-line.
  7. ↑ John J. Rox in: National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
  8. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 53. ISBN   978-0-89820-161-1.
  9. ↑ Bow, Dave (December 15, 2010). "Christmas Music Coundown: Day 9.5". The Portland Mercury . Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "The Breakfast Club" morning show. WNIC, Detroit, MI. December 19, 2007.
  11. ↑ "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas - The Official Site By Gayla Peevey - Gayla Peevey". iwantahippopotamusforchristmas.net. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  12. 1 2 3 Siegel, Robert (December 13, 2017). "For The Oklahoma City Zoo, Hippos Are A Christmas Tradition". National Public Radio . Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  13. ↑ "'I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas' Singer Welcomes Hippo to Oklahoma City Zoo". Billboard . Associated Press. December 12, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  14. ↑ "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas Singer Tells Her Story – Gayla Peevey". Tulsa Films. October 31, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Revealed! Hippopotamus for Christmas Singer Tells All". Jack Frank Productions. December 17, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  16. ↑ Kaufman, Joanne (December 30, 2016). "A Voice of Christmas Past Returns, Asking for a Hippopotamus". The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  17. ↑ Dale, Vicki; The Peter Pan Orchestra (1953). I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas (78 RPM record). Peter Pan Records. Recording at the Internet Archive .
  18. ↑ "The Three Stooges – Records". 3-stooges.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Bob Keeshan and Lumpy Brannum : Captain Kangaroos Merry Merry Christmas". Discogs . 1961. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  20. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 102. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  21. ↑ "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Single by LeAnn Rimes". Apple Inc. September 30, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014– via iTunes Store.
  22. ↑ Conaway, Alanna (August 8, 2014). "LeAnn Rimes Has a New Album, a New Reality TV Show and a New Attitude (2014)". Country Weekly. American Media, Inc. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  23. ↑ "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Song by A Great Big World". Apple Inc. November 24, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2025– via iTunes Store.
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