It was Christmas Eve 1988 and just as they had for several years people gathered in front of the five story town house at 17 Beekman Place at 50th Street in Manhattan. Most of the people in the crowd were strangers to one another, but they were all there with one collective purpose in mind. And at just about 6:30pm they did what they had come to do. As one, the crowd began to serenade the one hundred year old Russian born Jewish immigrant who had called this house his home for more than forty years; “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…” wafted up from the sidewalk. It was tradition that began in 1982, but unbeknownst to the carolers this would be the last year they would be able to celebrate the holiday with the author of the most famous of all Christmas songs, because the following September Irving Berlin would pass away; he was 101 year old.
He was born Israel Baline on May 11, 1888 in an area that is today in Belarus. His father, a cantor in a synagogue, moved the family to New York City in 1893 and they settled on the lower east side, an area of the city once known as a center of Jewish immigrant culture. By the time he turned eighteen he was trying his hand at music and soon after he started using the name Irving Berlin because he thought it was easier for others to remember. Before long though he was truly making a name for himself as a lyricist and in 1911 he had his first world famous song, Alexander’s Ragtime Band. “With one song, the career of Irving Berlin and American music were intertwined forever,” said Isaac Stern at Mr. Berlin’s 100th birthday celebration, adding, “American music was born at his piano.”
His catalogue of songs eventually grew to 1,500, at least. Among the most famous were Puttin’ on the Ritz, Easter Parade and God Bless America. But there is a special place in musical history for White Christmas. Not only is it said to be the most popular Christmas song of all, but according to a 2009 update, Guinness noted that it was listed as the world’s best selling single in their first ever Book of World Records, published in 1955, and still retains that title today.
Legend has it that Berlin wrote the song in 1940 while sitting poolside at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. He is said to have told his secretary, “Grab your pen and take down this song. I just wrote the best song I’ve ever written—heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written!” The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby on his NBC radio show on Christmas Day, 1941. But the first recorded version, also by Crosby, was in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. During that year this recording spent eleven weeks at the top of the Billboard charts. Over one hundred million copies of the various versions of the song have been sold since its debut.
The Christmas Eve tradition of caroling for Mr. Berlin began spontaneously in 1982 when, according to the New York Times, “John Wallowitch, the Manhattan songwriter, pianist and cabaret performer, gathered four other Berlin worshipers in front of the house to sing White Christmas.” Particularly memorable was the following year, says the Times, “after caroling, the singers, to their astonishment, were welcomed into the kitchen, where they were greeted by the 95-year-old Berlin. ‘He was standing there in his bathrobe and slippers, and it was so touching,’ Mr. Wallowitch said. ‘He kissed all the girls and hugged all the guys and said, ‘This is the nicest Christmas present I ever got.’”
White Christmas
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white.
***
Merry Christmas, one and all.
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