In October 1953, Peevey performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in an episode that would air on November 15, 1953.
A popular legend holds that this 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo, but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser.[10] Instead, the Oklahoma City Zoo and a local newspaper, picking up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, launched the Gayla Peevey hippo fund so Peevey could be presented with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas.[11]
The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which – as had been planned all along – she donated to the city zoo.[11] The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years.[10] In 2017, Peevey, then 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus from the San Diego Zoo.[11][12]
In a 2010 interview, Peevey said that she had never received any royalties from the song.[13][14] By 2016, however, she had discovered that there was an account under her name with Sony Music from which she could claim royalties and she was also getting revenue for the song through iTunes.[15]
B-side
The B-side of the original 78 featured the song "Are My Ears on Straight?"[16]
Other releases
It is a Dr. Demento Christmas staple, having been released on his album The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time Vol. 6: Christmas.
A version by Vicki Dale and the Peter Pan Orchestra was released in 1953.[17]
Malcolm T. Elliot recorded and released a version in 1975. The song peaked at number 83 in Australia.[20]
Country music singer Gretchen Wilson recorded a rendition in late 2009. It debuted at No. 54 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts dated for January 2, 2010. It is included on her album Christmas in My Heart, released in 2013.
^"Alice Pearce's Nuptials", The New York Times, May 23, 1948, p. 65.
^"John R. Rox" [sic], The New York Times, August 6, 1957, p. 26.
^"John J. Rox, Song Writer", The Washington Post, August 8, 1957, p. B-2.
^"John Jefferson Rox" in Notable Names in the American Theatre. James T. White & Co., 1976. ISBN0-88371-018-8.
^Renewal registration RE0000084409, February 23, 1981, of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", by John Jefferson Rox, U.S. Copyright Office database on-line.
^John J. Rox in: National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 53. ISBN978-0-89820-161-1.
^Dale, Vicki; The Peter Pan Orchestra (1953). I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas (78 RPM record). Peter Pan Records. Recording at the Internet Archive.
