Since I downloaded this file I must have played it countess
times. Today at work my co-workers will probably tell me to play
something else. "Eat, Eat, Eat" is my all time favorite Christmas
song. Bing, "eat" your heart out.
I remember the last time I played the old 78 recording I had of
it. I had just played it about a dozen times in early 1960 and the
door bell rang. It was our neighbor announcing they were moving
about 75 miles away. The "girl" next door had been like a sister to
me. I still have the photo of us in the same baby carriage togeth at
about 1 year old in about 1947. I was so devastated that I just had
to sit down. I will never forget that awful sound of "crunch". I
had done the unthinkable and put a fragile disc on a chair and sat on
it. There I jumped up and looking at those pitiful shards of wax or
whatever it was made of and uttered one of those phrases the likes of
which matched FDRs phrase "Day of Infamy": "I Broke the Eating
Record" Even Danny Kaye would have been touched.
We wrote Columbia, searched record stores, and every Christmas
season including last year, I check the Christmas music sections of
stores looking for a re-issue. I even went to the Library of
Congress, but they did not have a copy, they did have the sheet music
which I photo copied there. Finding this rates up there to my
wedding day, and the births of my children. Its OK to find the humor
in this. Along with Danny Kaye my favorite performers also include
Steve Allen and Jean Shepherd. All three knew how to delightfully
mix humor and seriousness. As Steve Allen would say, "Now all
seriousness aside...."