More than sixty years after her song about wanting one for Christmas inspired the city of Oklahoma City to purchase its first hippopotamus.
Oklahoma City resident Gayla Peevey has welcomed another hippo to the city’s zoo. Francesca, a pygmy hippopotamus, is 26 years old and recently relocated to Oklahoma from the San Diego Zoo.
The singer was present for Francesca’s first public debut in Oklahoma. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, Peevey first performed his Christmas novelty hit.
“I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1953, when he was just 10 years old.
Children all around the state contributed their nickels and dimes to help the zoo afford and get an elephant.
A total of $3,000 was raised for the cause, and on Christmas Eve 1953, Peevey, then 74 years old, was presented with Mathilda, a Nile hippo weighing in at 700 pounds.
According to the Chicago Tribune, it was donated to the Oklahoma City Zoo, where it survived to be about 50 years old.
John Rox is the author of the 1953 Christmas novelty song “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,” which was recorded by Gayla Peevey, then 10 years old.
In December of 1953, the song peaked at number 24 on the pop list published by Billboard magazine.
The History Behind “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”
After its nationwide debut on Columbia Records, the song became an instant hit, and the Oklahoma City Zoo bought a young hippopotamus they named Matilda.
The performance by Peevey on The Ed Sullivan Show was taped in October 1953 and originally aired on November 15 of that year.
Backstory behind the Christmas Carol “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” At the age of 10, Gayla Peevey sang “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” on record in 1953.
The young actress rapidly gained devoted fans, especially in her native Oklahoma City, where she was sometimes mistaken for Shirley Temple.
Gayla recalls the humiliation she felt as a child when her classmates gazed at her or when neighbourhood kids peered into her room from a tree.
Parents saw Gayla’s talent, so they let her appear on a television variety show. Columbia Records signed her to perform children’s songs after being impressed by her powerful voice and stage presence.
Conclusion
Gayla Peevey, then 10 years old, requested a hippopotamus for Christmas in 1953. She sang her declaration to the world: “I don’t want a doll, a dinky tinkertoy. If I could have one animal, it would be a hippopotamus.
