Yesterday in La Crosse
Was it the most wonderful Christmas ever…55 years ago?
It wasn’t going to be an easy Christmas for America in 1963. The holiday season began just after the November assassination of President Kennedy. A new Christmas song introduced that season was “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” by Andy Williams. Another new song for the holidays was a call for peace, written during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Bing Crosby performed “Do You Hear What I Hear?” that December on a Bob Hope TV special.
The number 1 song in the US that Christmas was a French-language tune recorded by The Singing Nun…”Dominique.”
At the end of December, American radio stations began playing a new song by a rock and roll band from Liverpool: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles.
On December 18th, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” introduced its famous Christmas episode, with the entire cast performing on “The Alan Brady Show.” That same night, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore were guests on “The Danny Kaye Show,” along with Andy Williams. A wonderful Christmas, 1963, yesterday in La Crosse.