That Came From Where?

Seeing as it's nearing Christmas and I need a happy post on here; I decided to look up the origins of some of the most famous Christmas songs which is something I always wondered about.

A Holly Jolly Christmas
This song was first heard in 1964 and was written by Johnny Marks who was a captain in World War II. Interestingly, Marks is Jewish, however he specialized in writing Christmas songs. He also wrote "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," among others. The song premiered on CBS during the Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The original singer of this song was  Burl Ives and his recording sold more than 2 million copies.

Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
This one was made in 1946 by vocalist Mel Tormé and songwriter Bob Wells and originally was not intended to be about Christmas at all. It was written in an attempt to cool off on a hot day, so they wrote down some lyrics to a song that would make them feel colder.

Deck the Halls
The tune to "Deck the Halls" dates all the way back to the 16th century. Originally popular as a dance tune in Wales, it was celebrated as a winter carol. It became widely known in the 18th century. The repeated "fa la la la la" comes from medieval ballads and was originally played on the harp; the other lyrics are American in origin and were written during the 19th century. During the Victorian era, Christmas was "re-invented," and "Deck the Halls" became a traditional English Christmas song, celebrating the custom of lavishly decorating homes for the holidays. The first English version appeared in 1881 in The Franklin Square Song Collection.

Away in a Manger
The author of "Away in a Manger" is actually unknown, but many people believe the words were written by Martin Luther. In "Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses," published in 1887, it is titled "Luther's Cradle Hymn" and bears the note, "Composed by Martin Luther for his children, and still sung by German mothers to their little ones." The music, while written by William J. Kirkpatrick, is based on a waltz Johann Strauss Jr. wrote nine years earlier.

The First Noel
We also don't know who wrote "The First Noel," but we do know it originated in England as early as the 13th or 14th century and that its origins were not in France. The carol was first published in 1833 in "Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern," a compilation of seasonal carols. While the carol originated in England, its melody is unusual among English folk melodies. The tune we use today is believed to be a corruption of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting.

Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" was written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson. The most popular recording of "Frosty the Snowman" was done by Gene Autry in 1951 — a version that sold more than a million copies.

I'll Be Home For Christmas
A product of the combined talents of Buck Ram, Kim Gannon and Walter Kent, the lyrics to this song were originally written by Ram in 1943. Its lyrics were inspired by World War I and the soldiers who thought the conflict would be short enough that they would be home for Christmas. Recorded by Bing Crosby, it became an instant holiday tradition. It was also the first song broadcast into space: In December 1965, astronauts Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were returning to earth aboard their Gemini 7 spacecraft after setting a record for the longest flight in the U.S. space program, consisting of 206 orbits. As they approached earth, they asked NASA communications personnel to pipe up to them Crosby's recording of "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
During the early 1900s, Montgomery Ward department store owners bought and gave away coloring books for Christmas every year. In 1939, they determined they could save money by creating their own coloring book — and they assigned one of their employees, Robert L. May, to come up with a coloring book design. As part of the coloring book, May — who had graduated from Dartmouth College more than a decade earlier — created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His story, subsequently put to music, graced the pages of the coloring book, which was distributed to 2.4 million children in its first year of publication. The song has sold more than 160 million recordings done by more than 500 different performers, in addition to 7 million copies of sheet music.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town
When this song was first presented to publishers, no one was interested because it was a "kiddie" song and they were notoriously uncommercial. Eddie Cantor's wife, Ida, persuaded him to take a risk on it and the first time it was sung on Cantor's radio show in November 1934, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" became an instant hit. More than 100,000 orders for sheet music flooded in the next day, and more than 400,000 copies were sold by that Christmas. The song was written by American songwriter John Frederick Coots, who wrote more than 700 songs, and Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie.