Dear Blog Readers,
Your Pops blogger is celebrating a birthday today so will be taking time out of this day to enjoy my day! In looking for a cake photo I knew this one was to be the photo as I love chocolate ganache cake! If July 14 is your birthday, I wish you a Happy Birthday. By the way, the date marks Bastille Day in France with fireworks!!
A few celebrities born on July 14 are: Polly Bergen, Woody Guthrie, Dale Robertson and President Gerald Ford.
Have you ever wondered where the celebration of birthdays started? In the simplest of terms, it's a time for friends and family to come together and celebrate .. you .. the anniversary of your birth and another year of life under your belt and around the sun.
The tune of "Happy Birthday" was actually a remix of sorts. Two sisters, Patty Smith Hill and Mildred J. Hill who happened to both be Louisville, Kentucky school teachers wrote a song called Good Morning To All in 1893. It was published in a book for other school teachers. The original intent of this song was to be sung in class by students before starting the day.
Of course, when anything catches on, there are variations that are made. This song is no different. Robert Coleman published a songbook in 1924 that featured this song with a few extra lyrics that quickly came to overshadow the original lyrics. These new lyrics to that popular tune became what we know today as "The Birthday Song".
In 1933, this new version was used in an Irving Berlin musical, As Thousands Cheer.
One of the comedy sketches in the show was set at a birthday party for John D. Rockefeller, Sr. His birthday was July 8, 1839. A July baby!
Patty was a kindergarten teacher with a musically inclined sister, Mildred. When Mildred wrote the little tune, Patty put some child-friendly words with it—”Good morning, dear children / Good morning to all”—it was loved by the students, who helped it spread to schoolrooms throughout Kentucky and beyond. The verse about birthdays was added after the fact, and it spread even faster!
One of the founding Hill sisters sued on the grounds that they held the copyright to the tune. They won the case and the copyright still holds to this day! Some even believe this song is under copyright until the year 2030! Copyright proceeds are split with the copyright owner and the Hill's estate estimated at around $2 million a year!!
And did you know? October 5 is the most common birth date in the United States.
If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Nine months before October 5 is New Year's Eve, a pretty common conception date! If you are a July baby, your birthstone is the ruby. Your birth flowers are the larkspur and the water lily. Folks born from July 1 to July 22 are members of the Cancer zodiac sign.
German bakers invented the birthday cake as we know it today. Kinderfeste, which started in the late 18th century was the name of a German birthday paty that is closest to today's style of parties. This party was held for German kids or "kinder" and featured a birthday cake adorned with candles.
Kids were given one candle atop the cake for each year and then blew out these candles while making a wish which was a big part of these celebrations .. for kids of all ages!
Will I be blowing out any candles on the 14th? Perhaps one .. along with a wish.
Often times one of my favorite bands who performed on the floating stage in Bemus Point was .. Jimmy and The Soulblazers! I so enjoyed this featured band each year! Often times the date fell on my birthday! What a special musical birthday gift!
Be Safe. Enjoy your own birthday whenever and wherever!
Pat Locke
Maestro Muse
