Local history: Goodyear’s ‘Great Songs of Christmas’ a holiday classic

“Silent Night” by Barbara Streisand. “The Little Drummer Boy” by Percy Faith. “Away in a Manger” by Mahalia Jackson. “The Christmas Song” by Tony Bennett. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” by Andy Williams.

Those were some of the songs that played in the background when Americans decorated trees, baked cookies and wrapped presents.

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“Great Songs of Christmas,” a premium record produced annually for Akron’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in the 1960s and 1970s, holds a tender place in the hearts of many baby boomers and Gen Xers.

Featuring “the greatest artists of our time,” the compilation albums were sold exclusively at Goodyear stores and dealers across the country.

The records were the brainstorm of New York marketing consultant Stanley Arnold, whose corporate clients besides Goodyear included Ford, Standard Oil, United Air Lines, American Tobacco, Macy’s and General Foods.

“Santa Claus never used a tire, but it occurred to me that Christmas had two deep connections with Goodyear,” Arnold wrote in his 1967 memoir “Tale of the Blue Horse and Other Million Dollar Adventures.”

“First, everyone is interested in Christmas; second, Goodyear sells many, many tires during the pre-Christmas season. That would be the million dollar idea for Goodyear, I decided: an album of Christmas music.”

Goodyear executives liked the idea of having a premium unrelated to tires because it might introduce the company’s products to new customers.

As Goodyear advertising director John P. Kelley explained: “There are millions of people who have never been inside a Goodyear store, not exactly sure where it is located, don’t know exactly what we sell, don’t know what price levels at which we sell things, and don’t know that we have auto service. We want to get those people in there.”

The company signed a deal with Columbia Special Products, a division of Columbia Records, to produce a 33⅓ rpm, long-play, hi-fidelity record.

It had a retail value of $3.98, but Goodyear sold it for only $1.

What was on first record?

Released in 1961, the first album was a compilation of previously recorded songs from the Columbia archives:

SIDE ONE

1. “Silent Night” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

2. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Eileen Farrell and the Luther Henderson Orchestra.

3. “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Jesu Bambino” by Perry Faith & Orchestra.

4. “What Child Is This (Greensleeves)” by Mitch Miller & Gang.

5. “O Holy Night” by Earl Wrightson and the Andre Kostelanetz Orchestra.

6. “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.

SIDE TWO

1. “Ring Christmas Bells,” “The First Noel” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” by Frank DeVol & The Rainbow Strings.

2. “Twelve Days of Christmas” by Burl Ives.

3. “Carol of the Bells” by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

4. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “We Three Kings” and “Deck the Halls” by the Norman Luboff Choir.

5. “Sleigh Ride” by Andre Kostelanetz & Orchestra.

Not too shabby for a buck.

Customers raved about the album and Goodyear.

Goodyear executives initially believed that 30,000 albums would be plenty for a first pressing, but Arnold persuaded them to think bigger. Ultimately, Columbia produced over 900,000 copies — and that wasn’t enough.

Customers really, really wanted the “Great Songs of Christmas” after seeing it advertised on network television and in local newspapers and national magazines. All 4,000 Goodyear stores and dealers sold out immediately. Even after replenishing their stock five or six times, they couldn’t keep up with demand.

In Akron, Goodyear sold the album to its employees at 20 gatehouses and lobbies. The records sold out there, too.

People wrote to Goodyear’s headquarters when they couldn’t find a copy. The company had so many requests that it just started mailing out records with notes asking customers to send $1 at their convenience.

The University of Akron’s Archives and Special Collections, where Goodyear’s corporate archives are stored, has preserved the 60-year-old correspondence. John Ball, library associate senior, found two long boxes filled with documents, letters, photos and receipts.

“This is just a line to tell you how much we are enjoying ‘The Great Songs of Christmas.’ I’m sure that this record is the finest thing a dollar has ever bought,” wrote Gerald Moore of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

“Thank you very much. The record arrived today. It is very beautiful and I’m glad to have it,” wrote Helen Rieckus of St. Louis.

“The recordings are very well chosen and beautifully reproduced. We feel you have made a real contribution to the enjoyment of the Christmas season,” wrote Dr. Walter E. LeGrange of Bennington, Vermont.

“We want you to know that we shall treasure this gift which will add so much pleasure during the Christmas season,” wrote Charles Paul of East Hartford, Connecticut.

“It has added much happiness to our Christmas season, and we never seem to weary of playing it. I’m a Goodyear customer from now on,” wrote Donna Johnston of Denver.

That’s exactly what the company wanted to hear. After the first record sold more than 1 million copies, Goodyear began releasing a Christmas album every year. Columbia cranked out 1.5 copies in 1962 and 2 million in 1963. All sold for $1.

“It’s a terrific success,” advertising chief Kelley noted. “ ‘Great Songs of Christmas’ is our biggest special.”

Other Akron rubber companies took notice. Firestone, B.F. Goodrich and General Tire all released Christmas albums after Goodyear.

Performing artists such as Barbara Streisand, Bing Crosby, Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Mathis, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, Diahann Carroll, Ray Conniff, Doris Day and the New Christy Minstrels sang on multiple Goodyear albums.

Great performers on albums

Here’s the lineup of talent:

Album 2: Percy Faith, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Eileen Farrell, Andre Kostelanetz, Nelson Eddy, Norman Luboff Choir, Earl Wrightson, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Andre Previn, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic.

Album 3: Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Julie Andrews, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Percy Faith, Mitch Miller, Isaac Stern, Robert Goulet, New Christy Minstrels, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, Norman Luboff Choir and Andre Previn.

Album 4: Mary Martin, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Robert Goulet, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Percy Faith, Brothers Four, Mahalia Jackson, Isaac Stern, New Christy Minstrels, Mitch Miller and Andre Previn.

Album 5: Andy Williams, Andre Kostelanetz, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Maurice Chevalier, Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Richard Tucker, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Dinah Shore, Diahann Carroll, Danny Kaye, Doris Day and Sammy Davis Jr.

Album 6: Barbara Streisand, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, the King Family, Pablo Casals, Jan Peerce, Ray Conniff, New Christy Minstrels, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Bing Crosby, Mahalia Jackson and Percy Faith.

Album 7: Tony Bennett, Sally Ann Howes, Robert Goulet, the Cleveland Orchestra, Diahann Carroll, Steve Lawrence, the Brothers Four, John Davidson, Barbra Streisand, Harry Simeon Chorale and Jerry Vale.

Album 8: Andy Williams, Carol Lawrence, Ray Conniff Singers, Tony Bennett, Percy Faith, Johnny Mathis, New Christy Minstrels, Barbra Streisand, Anthony Newley, Sally Ann Howes, Robert Merrill, Anna Moffo, and Brothers Four.

Album 9: Petula Clark, Bing Crosby, Joan Sutherland, Connie Francis, Richard Kiley, Lawrence Welk, London Symphony Orchestra, Mantovani Orchestra, Lena Horne and Vladimir Horowitz.

Album 10: Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Petula Clark, Percy Faith, Ray Conniff, Andy Williams, John Davidson, Isaac Stern, Richard Tucker, Anna Moffo, Leonard Bernstein, Mahalia Jackson, Doris Day and Steve Lawrence.

Not all of the tunes were retreads from the Columbia archives.

“A great deal of special recording is commissioned for such an album,” marketing consultant Arnold told Billboard magazine in 1966. “Recording teams were sent to England to record Barbra Streisand and Pablo Casals was flown in from Puerto Rico to participate.”

Some families collected all of the records. Some bought only one album and played it every year.

There must still be a lot of them in Greater Akron homes.

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The first 10 albums were titled the “Great Songs of Christmas,” but Goodyear switched it up with “The Joyous Songs of Christmas” (1971), “Christmas Is” (1972), “The Many Moods of Christmas” (1973), “Carols and Candlelight” (1974), “Henry Mancini Selects Great Songs of Christmas” (1975), “Mancini Moods at Christmastime” (1976) and, by popular demand, “The Great Songs of Christmas” (1977). RCA Records produced the last three before Goodyear discontinued the premium.

“The Christmas Song” by Johnny Mathis. “Toyland” by Doris Day. “Winter Wonderland” by Lena Horne. “Jingle Bells” by Nelson Eddy. “Sleigh Ride” by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

For kids who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, those tunes on the old Goodyear albums bring back fond memories.

They really were the great songs of Christmas.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Goodyear’s ‘Great Songs of Christmas’ albums a holiday classic