Tag Archive | holidays

World’s Most Popular Song? The Story of ‘Happy Birthday’

Mar4

Everyone’s sung it at least once!

March 4

My son’s first birthday… and singing Happy Birthday to You.

This song, arguably the most popular one ever written, never reached number one the Billboard Hot 100 and was never nominated for a Grammy Award. In fact, no one is 100 percent certain as to the origin of the tune or the lyrics. Yet today pretty much every American aged 5 and over has sung it many, many times and it remains a cultural icon.

The song? “Happy Birthday To You.”

It was on March 4, 1924, when the song was published in a songbook by Claydon Sunny (Clayton F. Summy Publications) at the behest of Jessica Hill, the younger sister of kindergarten teachers Patty and Mildred Hill.

The song has its origins in the late 1800’s when the two sisters composed an easy to learn song for their classroom titled “Good Morning To You.” It is speculated that the sisters put the song together based on several other children’s song melodies, popular at the time.

The lyrics were thus: “Good morning to you, good morning to you, good morning, dear children, good morning to all.”

So far, so good as it was just a couple of Louisville, Kentucky, kindergarten teachers using a cheery song to greet young children each day.

In 1893 the sisters, with their pioneering ideas on early childhood education, published the song in a book titled “Song Stories For Kindergarten.” No one can say for sure ‘when’ the birthday lyrics were substituted but there is evidence that they were first published in 1912. It was, however, Claydon Sunny’s publication which set the song up for copyright challenges which persisted for decades.

As you might expect, the Infallible Wikipedia fills in the details:

“The Summy Company registered a copyright in 1935, crediting authors Preston Ware Orem and Mrs. R. R. Forman. In 1988, Warner/Chappell Music purchased the company owning the copyright for US$25 million, with the value of ‘Happy Birthday’ estimated at US$5 million. Warner claimed that the United States copyright would not expire until 2030 and that unauthorized public performances of the song were illegal unless royalties were paid. In February 2010, the royalty for a single use was US$700. By one estimate, the song is the highest-earning single song in history. In the European Union, the copyright for the song expired on January 1, 2017.

My daughter’s Ballerina themed 5th birthday party

The American copyright status of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ began to draw more attention with the passage of the Copyright Term Extension Act in 1998. The Supreme Court upheld the Act in Eldred v. Ashcroft in 2003, and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer specifically mentioned ‘Happy Birthday to You’ in his dissenting opinion. American law professor Robert Brauneis extensively researched the song and concluded in 2010 ‘it is almost certainly no longer under copyright.’ Good Morning to You Productions sued Warner/Chappell for falsely claiming copyright to the song in 2013. In September 2015, a federal judge declared that the Warner/Chappell copyright claim was invalid, ruling that the copyright registration applied only to a specific piano arrangement of the song and not to its lyrics and melody. In 2016, Warner/Chappell settled for $14 million, and the court declared that ‘Happy Birthday to You’ was in the public domain.”

I love this photo of my children taken on my daughter’s birthday circa 1997

Like pretty much everyone reading this, I cannot recall a time when I did NOT know this song. When my family inherited my grandmother’s piano – I was 7 or 8 – and I first sat down to experiment, this was likely the first tune I was able to pick out with the keys.

Some of my earliest memories are of my mother bringing out a birthday cake for one of her four children, candles ablaze, and her leading everyone in singing ‘Happy Birthday To You.” She would enter the dining room from the kitchen, bearing her signature chocolate cake covered in white frosting, with “Happy Birthday” written in either blue or green icing. This was followed by the birthday child blowing out the candles and making a secret wish.

The now 101-year long tradition (or longer) of singing happy birthday has been carried on for generations and, as soon as its discovered that it’s someone’s special day, a group of people will nearly always sing the song.

A moment in time…It was my mother’s 32nd birthday. I’m not quite sure ‘who’ took this photo. Likely my grandmother who often came to help with the four of us. I’m not pictured as I was only three months old at the time. My siblings, ages 9, 4, and 2 are also pictured.

As I was researching for this article, I wandered off into the weeds, perusing various YouTube videos of people singing/playing ‘Happy Birthday.’ And then I saw it. A nine-minute video of pianist Victor Borge having fun with the song in the style of about 10 different classic composers. The link:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hkkHz8xq7lE?si=UBogXMHjmkPc4qZk

This was familiar, I thought. And then I recalled I had experienced Victor Borge perform at the Capitol Theatre in Yakima when I was a teenager. Sure enough, on March 31, 1973 – together with my parents and my sister – we attended his concert. According to what I wrote in my diary “It was a very good show. I enjoyed it.” Not exactly an expansive review but I was 15 and, perhaps, did not appreciate that moment in time. To this day, however, I can see him on that stage, regaling the audience with his comedic take on classical music. I am positive he performed ‘Happy Birthday’ similarly to what is shown in the attached video.  Enjoy!

My dad’s birthday circa 1997 pictured with his two youngest granddaughters.

Yet, when I think about “Happy Birthday To You” I am amazed at the cultural reach of such a simple tune and lyrics with humble beginnings.

So, there you have it. No more copyright infringements or companies claiming the song belongs to them. You are free to sing “Happy Birthday to You” anywhere and everywhere without having to worry about paying royalties or getting sued. Ultimately, the song has returned to its roots, as a simple and positive way to give glad tidings and, perhaps, brighten someone’ day if only for a few minutes. Just the way I imagine Patty and Mildred Hill would have wanted it.

A few links:

Click to access 03-04-1924-Happy-Birthday.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Borge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Theatre_(Yakima,_Washington)

The First Thanksgiving

Nov26

The Fourth Thursday In November

November 26, 2024

A Tuesday Newsday Classic

The celebration of harvest by setting aside a day of ‘thanksgiving’ is a tradition long observed by people the world over.  Most Americans embrace the idea that the first Thanksgiving was held in Plymouth, Massachusetts, by the pilgrims who settled the wilderness there in 1621.

But a historical look at ‘thanksgiving’ celebrations indicates a more haphazard approach. In fact, colonists in Virginia also held feasts of ‘thanksgiving’ during the early years of European settlements and a number of years before the New England events. In subsequent years such feasts were declared from time to time, occurring whenever it seemed a good idea for a few days of eating and celebration.

It was George Washington, as the first president, who by proclamation made Thursday, November 26, 1789, a ‘National Day of Thanksgiving.’

From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me ‘to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.’

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.’”

Although additional ‘days of thanksgiving’ were proclaimed over the years, it was during the Civil War when the last Thursday of November became the traditional celebration date. And, in a coincidence, it was also November 26th for that official celebration.

Controversy arose, however, when – during Franklin Roosevelt’s term as President –there was a ‘fifth’ Thursday.  Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

“On October 6, 1941, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution fixing the traditional last-Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1942. However, in December of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split the difference by requiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was usually the last Thursday and sometimes (two years out of seven, on average) the next to last. The amendment also passed the House, and on December 26, 1941, President Roosevelt signed this bill, for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fixing the day as the fourth Thursday of November.

For several years some states continued to observe the last-Thursday date in years with five November Thursdays (the next such year being 1944), with Texas doing so as late as 1956.”

Royal Doulton china similar to my Aunt’s set of dishes

Eventually, however, everyone got on board with the change which, of course, made the planning of parades, retail sales, and football games much easier.

For me, Thanksgiving was always a long-anticipated day. My family moved to Yakima in 1961 and, as a small girl of four years, I had no prior memories of the event.  All my recollections are of the two holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas – being spent at either my family’s house or that of my cousins.

Being that my cousins’ house was a short walk down 31st Avenue, it became tradition that our two families of six each – along with my maternal grandparents – would spend Thanksgiving together.

My uncle owned a piano and organ store for a time. While he didn’t sell these, there was an antique pump organ in their basement.

I loved going to their house for the holiday for a number of reasons, the first being that my Aunt Helen set the most gorgeous table.  Even as a child I loved china and hers was exquisite. It might have been Royal Doulton Country Roses – or a knockoff – but I recall it was bold, fussy, and beautiful. She had enough place settings to accommodate 14 people but not enough seats at the main table… so the five younger children (2 boys, 3 girls) were relegated to the kitchen table WITH the pocket door closed. It was glorious. Behind that closed door, mischief abounded with my brother – who was four years older than I – the main mischief maker. There were jokes told, inappropriate noises, and much laughter. We thought we were the lucky ones not having to endure the boring adult conversations which seemed to center on who was sick or had died that year.

The third, and my favorite, reason I loved going to the cousins’ house was because of their basement.  After dinner (which was ALWAYS served at 1 p.m. and over by 1:45) we were sent downstairs. That basement was the one place in my fastidious Aunt’s house where we could play without concern over too much noise.

In 2018, a year after my mother’s death, we had Thanksgiving in Yakima with my dad. Shown here is my mother’s china which I used to set the table that year.

Oh, the adventures we had! Like the time we set up the Ouija Board and invoked spirits (of the dead relatives discussed at dinner) only to have the basement window bang open at the exact moment of contact. And the time that my sister and cousin Tim put on a play in the basement, complete with a curtain and props, and a surprise ending. My uncle had an old pump organ down there which fascinated me as I pumped the pedals and pulled on knobs to create different sounds as I ‘played’ the instrument.  We never ran out of things to do and I was always sad when the hour grew late and we had to return home.

When I think of my many blessings in life, I’m especially thankful for my childhood and those special holidays I spent with my siblings and cousins. At the time I did not appreciate the transitory nature of life and thought it would always be that way.

I’ve come to cherish Thanksgiving and have to say that it’s truly my favorite holiday. At no other time do we pause to give thanks for all our blessings and the people who make our lives richer and better.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

As always, a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)