If your folks were around in the 1950s, there’s a decent chance this record was in your house.
“Elvis’ Christmas Album” came out on October 15, 1957. It shot to No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks. To this day it’s the best-selling Christmas album in America, with more than 17 million copies shipped. That’s an astonishing number for one holiday record.
Almost everyone’s family seemed to own a copy.
Which raises a question collectors love. If there are millions of them out there, how could any single copy be worth real money?
The answer is hiding on the outside of the record, not the vinyl inside.
Elvis singing one of the album’s signature songs
Start with the track above. It’s one of the numbers on the record, and the whole session was famously loose. One of the songs on this album was written by the team of Leiber and Stoller right there in the studio in a matter of minutes, after Elvis asked them for another tune.
That easygoing spirit is all over the album.
The haunting holiday favorite from the same record
Here’s another one fans play every December. Give it a listen and you’ll understand why this album became part of the season for so many homes. There are plenty of tales about how this particular song came together, but a good number of them are more legend than fact, so enjoy it for the sound alone.
Now, back to that valuable copy.
What makes a few of these records special isn’t anything you can hear. It comes down to one tiny detail on the packaging. The rarest, most sought-after copies still have an intact gold-foil “gift giving” sticker on the original plastic shrink wrap.
That little sticker is the whole thing.
Most families tore the wrap off on Christmas morning and threw it away without a second thought. Who keeps the plastic? So the records that still carry that unbroken wrap and its gold sticker are scarce, and collectors pay close attention to them.
One more classic to carry you into the season
The clip above is a third favorite from the record, the kind of song that makes the whole room go quiet. It’s a fine reminder of why this album has lasted almost 70 years.
So here’s your homework.
If your family still has the old red Elvis Christmas album tucked away in a closet or an attic, go dig it out. Turn it over in your hands. Look at the wrap, if there’s any wrap left at all, and hunt for that gold-foil “gift giving” sticker.
It might be nothing. It might be something. Either way, you’ll have Elvis singing through the house while you look, and that’s a fine way to start the season.