He’s
makin’ a list
He’s
checkin’ it twice,
Gonna
find out who’s naughty and nice,
Santa
Claus is comin’ to town.
He
sees you when you’re sleepin’,
He
knows when you’re awake;
He
knows if you’ve been good or bad,
So
be good for goodness sake!
“Santa
Claus is Coming to Town” was first heard when Eddie Cantor sang it on his radio
program in December 1934, and it was an immediate hit. According to Wikipedia,
within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of the sheet music were ordered and 30,000
recordings. I’m guessing that in the 1935 holiday season, Ina and family heard
the song frequently when they listened to the radio. Little Sadie especially
enjoyed the message.
But
Sadie was a very good little girl. Really, she was exceptional. Ina never needed
to remind her that Santa might not bring her any presents if she didn’t straighten
up, mend her ways, act her age, or stop whining. No, Sadie was a good girl and
never a minute’s trouble. Ina felt so fortunate to have a child in the home for
Christmas.
But
– over at the one-room schoolhouse, Miss Johnson knew all about naughty
children, especially the rascally boys. The bigger the boy, the more mischief he
made, and Miss Johnson was attempting to teach some big boys! The students were
practicing for the Christmas pageant every day now, and it was hard to make them
pay attention and take it seriously. Experience had taught her, though, that in
the end, it would come together nicely, and even if it didn’t, the contribution
of each child would be appreciated by his / her parents and grandparents. “If I
can just make it to Christmas vacation,” thought the teacher every day, “all
will be well.” KW
I loved the history of a well-remembered song from my childhood. And from a retired teacher's view, your ending was right on!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Chris. I try to research and find something familiar today that came to be in the '30s.
ReplyDelete