Our Christmas Waltz

I have to admit that I picked up this record primarily because of its Christmas coloring, but fortunately it's worth hearing as well as seeing.

This is a green vinyl promo copy of a 78 from 1949. That year, RCA Victor had begun issuing 45s, initially color coding the vinyl to signify genre - red for classical, yellow for children's records, etc. This 78 is pressed on the watery green vinyl that RCA used for its country 45s. And although "Our Christmas Waltz" started off as a country song, this is decidedly not a hillbilly record.

Larry Green

Larry Green was actually a society bandleader, located in Boston. He plays the piano heard here, in the style of Eddy Duchin.

Ray Dorey

"Our Christmas Waltz," a simple but attractive song, was a hit for Red Foley and Judy Martin on the country charts. It is coupled here with a new Hoagy Carmichael-Paul Francis Webster tune with the strange title "Follow the Swallow to Hide-A-Way Hollow". The Carmichael song is also a good one, with a lyric in the manner of "I'll Buy That Dream". Both are very well sung by the sonorous Ray Dorey. The baritone had been with Benny Goodman and made several singles for the Majestic label. He later became a Boston radio-television personality.

Honey Dreamers Christmas Single

How about starting the Christmas shares off with another Honey Dreamers record? This one is a kiddie record from 1956 celebrating the latest helper of Santa, one Rootie Tootie Tootie, who is also identified as a "kewtee bear". He is the fellow at the right in the picture sleeve. Just so there is no mistake, his beanie denotes him as "Santa's Helper". It's not clear why he has belt and suspenders, having no trousers to hold up.

The back story of this scene is that Santa has been loading up with cookies and has become too fat to get down the chimney. So Rootie has become the designated toy dispenser. Unfortunately, Santa and Rootie did not discuss their respective roles before getting to this house, and the appropriately porcine-looking Santa has become stuck, to Rootie's amusement.

I gather that the children of 1956 found this tale appealing, although I was a child in good standing at the time and have no recollection of it. (I like to think I would have rejected it out of hand, but that's probably just me imputing my fabulous adult taste to my preferences as a six-year-old.) There was a children's book, two different records, and a toy bear. Unfortunately for the promoters, Rootie did not become as popular as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

If you can handle kiddie records, you will find this to be is a good example of the genre, with a catchy melody well presented by the versatile Honey Dreamers. The flip side is "The Little Bell," a simple you-can-do-it anthem for the junior set. I have included the "Story of Santa's Kewtee Bear" in the download, for those who want the full experience. I haven't listened, myself, but I believe it features Alan Reed (the voice of Fred Flintstone) and May Questel (the voice of Betty Boop). It would have been more interesting if Santa had taken Fred and Betty along with him and left the bear at home.