1940s Christmas Playlist - Part 20 - "An Old Christmas Card"

Still in 1949 with our 1940s Christmas music playlist, we move back into the country field with a not overly recorded song: "An Old Christmas Card."

Here's Ray Smith on Columbia Records:

I always thought it was interesting that the song almost seems sad until you realize that the singer is still together with the card-giver and not pining over lost love!

The flipside is an update of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas":

I think that's a nice little record, but "Billboard" wasn't overly impressed in the review from the September 10, 1949 issue:

I find the "Billboard" reviews fascinating, as they're basically snap judgements from the critics upon hearing the record and not always indicative of what the public thought.

Both of those songs were written/adapted by Vaughn Horton, who was a member of the Pinetoppers group with Ray Smith.

The Pinetoppers had their own version of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" on Coral Records in 1951:

I don't know if Ray Smith was involved with that record, but he did sing with the Marlin Sisters on some Coral records.

I first knew the Vaughn Horton adaptation of "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" from the 1949 Decca recording by Stubby and the Buccaneers:

That's the definitive version to me. I'm a sucker for a novelty group!

As for "An Old Christmas Card," it didn't really go anywhere until Jim Reeves included it on his 1963 RCA Victor album "Twelve Songs of Christmas" and also released it as a single:

Good job by whoever remembered the song, as it suits Jim so well. 

The big difference in this recording is the narration that wasn't present in Ray Smith's record.

But things take an interesting turn as there was another recording of "An Old Christmas Card" in the 1940s:

I haven't heard this one, don't know Jimmy Atkins or Don Baker and I'm not familiar with the Continental label.

But, there's a little blurb in the January 3, 1948 issue of "Billboard" magazine:

Two things: The record must have been released in 1947, two years before Ray Smith's and it has "talking" after the first chorus! Is that the same narration used by Jim Reeves?

"Billboard" then reviewed the record again (a touch more favorably this time) in the October 15, 1949 issue as if it were a new release:

Jimmy Atkins "recites," eh? Hmmm...

Another piece of the puzzle is that "Jim" Atkins recorded with the Pinetoppers on Coral Records:

So I'm surmising that Jimmy Atkins and Ray Smith both recorded "An Old Christmas Card" because they were friends with Vaughn Horton through the Pinetoppers.

In any event, now another one of my tasks is to hear Jimmy's record of it somehow!

Strictly coincidental I'm sure is that Chet Atkins produced Jim Reeves's version!

"An Old Christmas Card" has gotten some additional waxings (as "Billboard" would say!) post-Jim Reeves and one that caught my ear is from veteran Canadian country music singer Wilf Carter on his 1965 "Christmas in Canada" album on RCA's Camden label:

I'm presuming it was the Reeves recording that brought the song to Wilf's attention, but I find the vibe more like Ray Smith's, although Wilf includes a (somewhat-different-from-Jim-Reeves) recitation.

Wilf's delivery is very non-Jim Reeves, but has its own old-school charm.

The whole album sounds so old-school in fact, that the opening tracks are actually from an old single from 1950 on RCA Victor, when Wilf Carter was using his American nickname of Montana Slim. They don't sound out of place except that they're mono vs. the stereo of the new recordings.

Intriguingly, one of the sides of the 1950 single is "Jolly Old St. Nicholas":

So, that's basically the same song as Ray Smith's version, but without the "Jingle, jingle, tinkle, tinkle..." part, which I'm presuming was Vaughn Horton's contribution to the traditional song.

Presumably the lack of the "jingle" part is why the label of the Montana Slim just indicates it's a traditional song rather than giving a writer credit. It probably doesn't mean much, but this label does abbreviate "Saint" rather than having it spelled out.

The Canadian label doesn't give an indication of the authorship at all:

Wilf Carter with The Calgary Stampeders, though!

But the label of that 1965 album using that 1950 recording does credit Vaughn Horton as the writer:

Should Vaughn Horton have been credited back in 1950 and somebody squawked? I guess we'll never know!

How do I find myself down these rabbit holes?