29th May 1942: The song "White Christmas" recorded by Bing Crosby

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Russian-born songwriter Irving Berlin emigrated to the United States as a child in 1893, and as an adult quickly established himself as a prolific and successful composer and lyricist. He wrote “White Christmas” overnight during the hot California summer of 1941, and is reputed to have told his secretary that, ‘Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote.’

The song was written for the Paramount motion picture Holiday Inn that was released in August 1942, but had its first public performance on an The Kraft Music Hall NBC radio show hosted by Bing Crosby on Christmas Day, 1941. “White Christmas” was later recorded for Decca Records in a session lasting just 18 minutes on 29 May, 1942. Accompanied by the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers, Crosby gave his approval to the writer by saying, ‘I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.’

The song was released in July as part of a collection of songs from Holiday Inn, and found commercial success as winter approached. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and became heavily requested during Crosby’s performances for troops after the United States entered the Second World War. Despite these requests, he later revealed that he felt uncomfortable performing the song in front of soldiers far from home as ‘it caused such a nostalgic yearning among the men, that it made them sad’.

The original 1942 master recording soon became worn out from overuse, leading to Crosby re-recording the song in 1947. “White Christmas” has since gone on to become the world’s biggest-selling single of all time.