happy happy birthday

This song likely first appeared between 1893 and 1912 because birthday parties had come into style around the 1830s (sorry, no cake until 20 years later) and folks realized they needed a tune!

Happy Birthday to You combined the folk lyrics of "happy birthday" with the tune of Good Morning to All a melody which was written by and copyright to Mildred J. Hill in 1893. Her sister, Patty Smith Hill, wrote the original (Good morning) lyrics. They included it in their school book called The Beginner's Book of Songs, pictured at right. Patty used it with her kindergarten class in Kentucky.

By the 1940s Good Morning/Happy Birthday was earning approx $15,000 to $20,000 per year in licensing fees... an enormous sum then. But who owned the rights?

It was a complex matter between the two sisters, and the publisher of their school songs book, The Cable Company. Through a series of buy-sell deals, various music companies who had been granted the rights by the Hill sisters, began to do their own "arrangements" of Happy Birthday to You, and to copyright those.

When a local theater group included the song in one scene of their production, As Thousands Cheer in 1934, sister Jessica Hill sued and won!

By 1962, licensing revenues were nearly $50,000 a year and numerous companies and individuals were scrambling to grab the cash. The Hill sisters had no documentation to prove they wrote the popular tune, and their estates couldn't prove ownership. Meanwhile, various music companies bungled it - failing to renew the copyright.

As a result, most law experts feel that Happy Birthday to You is currently a public domain work; however the Warner Music Group claims copyright, and won a court case that gives it to them until 2030. Figures!

In 2008, Warner collected about $5,000 per day ($2 million per year) in royalties for the song!

You can read the full legal history here at FreeCulture.org

You can read a lot more about the birthday song copyright fiasco at Snopes.com which confirms the greedy, ugly truth of the story.

About Snopes.com
The snopes.com website was founded by Barbara and David Mikkelson, a husband and wife team who live and work in the Los Angeles area. What they began in 1995 as an expression of their shared interest in researching urban legends has since grown into what is widely regarded by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World Wide Web's essential resources. Snopes.com is routinely included in annual "Best of the Web" lists and has been the recipient of two Webby awards.

It's very rare to hear "Happy Birthday to You" sung in a movie because of the copyright complications.

Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday To You
Happy Birthday Dear [ Name ]
Happy Birthday To You

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party
Yes we're going to a party party

I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance

I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Take a cha-cha-cha-chance (Birthday)
I would like you to dance (Birthday)
Dance

You say it's your birthday
Well it's my birthday too, yeah
You say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

You can look up what happened in history on the day of your birthday at a number of sites... or look it up and share a bit of eccentric trivia with a friend in your card/message to him on his birthday.

For example, the day I was born, "The African Queen" opened at the Capitol Theatre in New York City. It starred Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in an "opposites attract" love story aboard a tramp steamer heading down river in Africa.

Some of the better sites for this day in history include:

OnThisDay.com
The History Channel
History Orb
The New York Times

above right: A British poster from THE AFRICAN QUEEN, courtesy Heritage Movie Posters.

Month

Birthstone

Flower

Color

January

Garnet

Carnation/Snowdrop

White

February

Amethyst

Violet

Violet

March

Aquamarine

Daffodil

Yellow

April

Diamond

Sweetpea

Pink

May

Emerald

Lily of the Valley

White

June

Pearl

Rose

Red

July

Ruby

Larkspur

Pink

August

Peridot

Gladioli

Yellow

September

Sapphire

Aster

Purple

October

Opal

Marigold

Orange

November

Topaz

Chrysanthemum

Yellow

December

Turquoise

Narcissus

White

OK this is crazy.... type www.happybirthday.com into your browser. Go ahead, I'll wait.


Wowee, the site isn't owned by anyone, and it's for sale! The only thing is, the price is...

$1,000,000!!

Actually, you can find the value of any website by going to 7 Zoom's Easy to Use Website Value Calculation Tool here: 7 Zoom
I was pretty happy to find out that my own personal/business site deb-gray.com is valued at $1,194. A much better deal than HappyBirthday.com!

"What's your sign baby?"

O.K. thankfully that line had a short life in the mid-70s, but Zodiac signs have been around for ages. Literally.

Identifying the 12 signs of the Zodiac was accomplished during the first half of the 1st millennium BC, in the middle-Babylonian period. Each of these 12 signs is associated with one of the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. Astrology, which is based on the belief that there is a connection between the cosmos and terrestrial matters (o.k. sure) is as popular as ever today. In fact, 25% of people recently polled said they believed in astrology, while 16 percent of US adults think that an "evil eye" exists & people can cast spells/curses. (The Montreal Gazette)

I must be in the 75% who don't believe; that's why I love THIS site: pretty funny, insulting horoscopes here - check them out!

Question: I was born on February 29th. When should I celebrate my birthday?

Answer: You have one and only one birthday. The years following you celebrate the anniversary of your birthday. Therefore your birthday is always Feb 29th.