The History of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Merry Christmas, everyone! On this busy holiday, I thought I would keep my post short and sweet, with a quick history of one of the tried-and-true Christmas tunes we hear at this time of year: “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” The song was originally written by music composer and lyricist James Lamont “Haven” Gillespie.

 

James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie

Gillespie was born in 1888 in Covington, Kentucky, one of nine children. He dropped out of school in the fourth grade and moved to Chicago, Illinois, to work with his sister and brother-in-law in their printing business. In 1908 at the age of 21, he married his childhood sweetheart back in Kentucky, and afterward, worked as both a typesetter for a Cincinnati-based newspaper and as a “plug man”, writing and performing music for Vaudeville. During this time, he would earn 1 ½ cents per piece of sheet music sold on the music that he wrote. He wrote over 1,000 songs and had numerous hits, including “Drifting and Dreaming,” “The Sleepy Town Express,” and “Louisiana Fairy Tale” (which was popularly used in the opening of the show “This Old House” in its early seasons).

 

In 1934, Gillespie was asked to write an upbeat Christmas tune for Eddie Cantor’s radio program—but the timing felt off to him. Not only was he stressed because money was incredibly tight, but he’d also lost his brother only a short time before. He couldn’t imagine writing a rollicking tune when he was so filled with grief. Gillespie nearly turned the job down. However, as he rode on the subway, memories of Christmases past with his brother began to flood his mind. He recalled the joy and anticipation of the holiday, and how their mother would warn every year that Santa was watching their behavior. Inspired by the memories, he pulled an envelope from his belongings and began penning the now-famous lines. They were completed in a mere fifteen minutes.

 

The down-on-his-luck composer called in a friend, J. Fred Coots, to write the jolly music that would accompany the lyrics, and the pair passed the finished piece along to Eddie Cantor. Cantor, in turn, had the song performed on his radio program. It was an instant hit! Within the first day, over 500,000 copies of the sheet music flew off the shelves, and it just kept selling. Ultimately, Haven Gillespie became a millionaire from that one song alone.

Original sheet music, autographed by
Haven Gillespie

 

Since its initial performance, the song has been sung by more than 200 artists, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Bublé, Justin Bieber, Dolly Parton, and the Jackson 5. In addition, in 1970, a much-loved, animated movie was made, based on the song, narrated by none other than Fred Astaire, helping it weave itself into the fabric of Christmas traditions everywhere. The song continues to endure, even today, as a holiday classic.

Still shot from "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" movie.

Thank you all for joining me! I know I speak for all the HHH Bloggers when I say that we wish you a beautiful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered western novels at twelve when she swiped the only “horse” book from her brother’s bookshelf. Across the next decade, she devoured westerns and fell in love with the genre. While attaining a B.A. in writing from the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. She has finaled in and won numerous writing competitions and appeared on various best-seller lists. Besides writing, she’s been a business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, a historical researcher, a publisher, and a full-time homemaker. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.

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