Posted on 12/18/2016 7:19:25 PM PST by nickcarraway
All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl named Gayla Peevey wanted for Christmas in 1953 was a hippopotamus.
And amazingly enough, after "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" became the biggest hit song of that holiday season, she actually got one, a 700-pound baby named Matilda. She promptly donated it to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where it lived to be nearly 50, a ripe old age for hippos.
As for Peevey's song, it may never die.
"That one just really took off, and it's still going strong, stronger than ever. Sixty-three years later! Hard to believe," Peevey, an ebullient woman of 73, says during a recent phone interview from her San Diego-area home.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcsandiego.com ...
I hate that song ... the voice of the person singing it makes my skin crawl
I sing along and mimic the voice as best I can -—
No crocodiles or rhinocer-oser-usses . . .
I still remember old Mrs. Fried in the 4th grade making us learn to sing this song for Christmas. Still hate it.
...since we had a Hippo Ping.
Hippopotomii steaks...yummm!
“I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas”
I’m 63 and have never heard (or heard of) that song.
The only thing I hate more is those gd chipmunks. Why does this crap exist?
Alvin!!
A Recent Picture Of Her.
I am 72 and heard it for the first time on tv a few days ago. Has a catchy tune.
Here’s a Christmas ear worm that will make you forget all about those chipmunks lol:
You're probably not a grade-school kid in 1958.
I’m 42 and have heard it several times. I don’t get its appeal, perhaps if one is from that era they get what I am missing.
The Barking Dogs barking ‘Jingle Bells’.
Great! Thanks so much for posting this! This song has been sort of stuck in my head, I like the new TV ad that has it! Shared this story to FB!
My wife keeps our kitchen radio tuned to a 24/7 Christmas music station throughout the month of December, so I’m surprised I’ve never heard that tune.
If it’s one of those ‘catchy’ ones, maybe it’s better that I haven’t heard it ;-)
“...have heard it several times. I dont get its appeal, perhaps if one is from that era they get what I am missing.”
I was born the year the tune came out, but I don’t get the appeal of a lot of music from that time.
I guess I didn’t tune in to popular music until the late 50s - early 60s. There’s a lot of stuff from that era that I recall fondly.
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