50 Old Christmas Songs: Vintage Classics and Carols Over 100 Years Old

What is the most popular old Christmas song?

"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby, first heard in 1942, is the most popular old Christmas song and is often cited as the best-selling single of all time. "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee and "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" by Andy Williams are the other vintage songs you will hear most every December.

Christmas classics from the 1930s and 1940s

1. "White Christmas", Bing Crosby (1942): the song that defined the holiday.
2. "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)", Nat King Cole (1946): warm and timeless.
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", Judy Garland (1944): first sung in Meet Me in St. Louis.
4. "I'll Be Home for Christmas", Bing Crosby (1943): written for families apart during the war.
5. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", Vaughn Monroe (1945): a cozy winter hit.
6. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town": written in 1934 and recorded by almost everyone since.
7. "Winter Wonderland": another 1934 song that never left the radio.
8. "Here Comes Santa Claus", Gene Autry (1947): the singing cowboy's first Christmas hit.
9. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Gene Autry (1949): one of the best-selling Christmas records ever.
10. "Merry Christmas Baby", Johnny Moore's Three Blazers with Charles Brown (1947): the original blues Christmas song.
11. "Blue Christmas": a country hit for Ernest Tubb before Elvis made it his own in 1957.
12. "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", Spike Jones (1948): a comic classic.
13. "Sleigh Ride", Leroy Anderson (1948): the orchestral original, later sung by The Ronettes.

1950s Christmas songs

14. "Frosty the Snowman", Gene Autry (1950): the snowman who came to life.
15. "Silver Bells", Bing Crosby and Carol Richards (1950): Christmas in the city.
16. "Mele Kalikimaka", Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters (1950): a Hawaiian Christmas.
17. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", Perry Como (1951): the first sign of the season.
18. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", Jimmy Boyd (1952): sung by a 13-year-old.
19. "Santa Baby", Eartha Kitt (1953): purring and playful.
20. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays", Perry Como (1954): the travel song.
21. "The Christmas Waltz", Frank Sinatra (1954): a gentle three-step.
22. "Mistletoe and Holly", Frank Sinatra (1957): relaxed and swinging.
23. "Santa Claus Is Back in Town", Elvis Presley (1957): a bluesy rocker.
24. "Jingle Bell Rock", Bobby Helms (1957): the first rock and roll Christmas standard.
25. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Brenda Lee (1958): recorded when she was only 13.
26. "Run Rudolph Run", Chuck Berry (1958): Christmas with a guitar riff.
27. "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", Alvin and the Chipmunks (1958): a novelty number one.
28. "The Little Drummer Boy", Harry Simeone Chorale (1958): the choral version that made it a standard.

1960s Christmas songs

29. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", Andy Williams (1963): the sound of the season.
30. "Do You Hear What I Hear?", Bing Crosby (1963): a song written as a prayer for peace.
31. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", Darlene Love (1963): a wall of sound classic.
32. "Pretty Paper", Roy Orbison (1963): written by Willie Nelson.
33. "Little Saint Nick", The Beach Boys (1963): Santa in a hot rod.
34. "A Holly Jolly Christmas", Burl Ives (1964): from the Rudolph TV special.
35. "Silver and Gold", Burl Ives (1964): a gentle song from the same special.
36. "Christmas Time Is Here", Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965): from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
37. "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", Thurl Ravenscroft (1966): from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
38. "We Need a Little Christmas", from the musical Mame (1966): about decorating early.
39. "What Christmas Means to Me", Stevie Wonder (1967): joyful Motown.
40. "Someday at Christmas", Stevie Wonder (1967): a hopeful song about peace.
41. "Snoopy's Christmas", The Royal Guardsmen (1967): Snoopy and the Red Baron call a truce.

Christmas carols more than 100 years old

42. "Joy to the World": words by Isaac Watts, published in 1719.
43. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing": written by Charles Wesley in 1739.
44. "Silent Night": first sung in Austria in 1818.
45. "O Holy Night": composed in France in 1847.
46. "Good King Wenceslas": published in 1853.
47. "Jingle Bells": from 1857, one of the oldest American holiday songs.
48. "Up on the Housetop": written in the 1860s, one of the first songs about Santa.
49. "O Little Town of Bethlehem": written in 1868.
50. "Away in a Manger": published in the 1880s.

For more carols and hymns, see our list of Christian Christmas songs.

Why old Christmas songs are still the most popular

Many of the Christmas songs played most today were written between 1934 and the late 1960s. Families play the same records every year, radio stations rely on the familiar ones and every new artist covers them, so each generation learns them again. Many were also written during or right after World War II, which is why so many are about coming home.

Old Christmas songs for seniors

For a party at a care home or a visit with grandparents, the songs from their childhood bring back memories: "White Christmas", "Silver Bells", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells" are easy to sing along to even for people with memory loss. Print large-type lyric sheets for the carols. For more ideas, see our guide to a gift for someone in a care home.

An old-fashioned Christmas playlist

• Morning: "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", "Winter Wonderland", "Sleigh Ride".
• Decorating the tree: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", "Jingle Bell Rock", "A Holly Jolly Christmas".
• Dinner: "The Christmas Song", "White Christmas", "The Christmas Waltz".
• Evening: "Silent Night", "O Holy Night", "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".

For later decades, see our lists of 70s Christmas songs and 80s Christmas songs.

Old Christmas songs for kids

Children still love the vintage story songs: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Frosty the Snowman", "The Chipmunk Song", "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Up on the Housetop". Pair each one with the TV special or picture book it comes from.

A new Christmas song in an old-fashioned style

For grandparents who love Bing and Nat King Cole, a personalized Christmas song in a jazz or classic style makes a moving gift: their names, the family's traditions and memories from Christmases past, sung in the sound they grew up with. See our guide to a Christmas song for grandparents.

For the top 100 across every style and decade, see our list of the greatest Christmas songs of all time.

How to create a Christmas song for your grandparents

1. Choose a style from 14 genres: jazz, classical, acoustic, country and more.
2. Add their names.
3. Share three family memories and their favorite Christmas traditions.
4. Review the lyrics and edit or regenerate them for free before any music is made.
5. Listen to 4 free 45-second previews and choose your favorite.

The full 3 to 4 minute song costs $24.99, or $29.99 for Premium with four full versions and editable lyrics. You get the MP3, a gift page and the lyrics as a PDF you can print in large type.

Give them a new classic: create a Christmas song and hear four previews for free.