About I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is a Christmas novelty song written by John Rox (1902–1957) and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 years old at the time) in 1953. The song peaked at number 24 on Billboard magazine's pop chart in December 1953. Peevey was a child star who was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Her family moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when she was five. When released nationally by Columbia Records the song shot to the top of the charts, and the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a baby hippo named Matilda.

In October 1953, Peevey performed the song on The Ed Sullivan Show in an episode that would air on November 15, 1953. A video of this performance is available on her website. A popular legend holds that this 1953 hit had been recorded as a fundraiser to bring the city zoo a hippo, but in a 2007 radio interview with Detroit-based WNIC radio station, Peevey clarified that the song was not originally recorded as a fundraiser. Instead, a local promoter picked up on the popularity of the song and Peevey's local roots, and launched a campaign to present her with an actual hippopotamus on Christmas. The campaign succeeded, and she was presented with an actual hippopotamus, which she donated to the city zoo. The hippopotamus lived for nearly 50 years. Peevey, by this point 73 years old, was again present when the Oklahoma City Zoo acquired a rare pygmy hippopotamus in 2017. Gayla Peevey later recorded as Jamie Horton, scoring the Billboard Hot 100-charter "My Little Marine" in 1960.