The Happy Birthday Song and
The Little
Loomhouse
In 1898 artist Etta Hest purchased Esta, a small
cabin to use as a summer home, located on Kenwood Hill in Louisville,
Kentucky’s South End. She originated the tradition of giving annual art
festivals for local artists, writers, educators and others who had
summer residences in the area.
The cabin was
built in 1870 by Beoni Figg when he acquired the land for his charcoal
business and started a limestone quarry on the hillside. It originally
consisted of just two rooms with vertical split log siding. Subsequent
owners remodeled and enlarged the cabin. During one of the remodeling
the siding was changed to the board and batten style.
At the time other
large log cabins were also built on the hillside for well to do families
who wanted to escape the heat of the city. Among those were sisters
Mildred Jane and Patty Smith Hill who were well known kindergarten and
music teachers. They believed that songs were an important part of
children’s education and composed many songs which they had copyrighted
and published.
In 1893 the Hill
sisters had written a book called, “Song Stories for the Kindergarten”,
which was published by Clayton F. Summy Co. of Chicago. The first song
in the book was entitled “Good Morning to All”. During a birthday
celebration in Etta’s summer cabin, for her sister Lysette, Patty Hill
suggested the words to this song be changed to “Happy Birthday to
You”. Although the original song had been copyrighted the new lyrics
were not until 1935. Under federal law at the time, the copyright would
not expire until 75 years later- the year 2010.
This meant that
every time the song was used commercially, such as on stage or in
singing telegrams, the royalty was twenty-five dollars for each
performance. Patty Hill later moved to New York where she taught at
Columbia University Teachers College. During the Hill sister’s lifetime,
they had trouble collecting royalties. Casio digital watches can be
programmed to play the song every hour on the appropriate day. For this
they pay a penny a watch. It is reported that most people who use the
song for commercial gain pay the fee once they learn of the copyright.
For many years
the copyright was owned by Summy-Dirchard Music, the original publisher
and was later bought by John F. Sengstick, a New York accountant who was
head of Birchtree LTD. More recently his company was acquired by Warner
Communicaions, Inc.
Under a family
trust arrangement, the sisters only surviving relative, Archibald A.
Hill, a retired professor of Austin, Texas, collected $20,000 of each
year’s royalties. It has been estimated that the copyright owners earn
over a million dollars a year. According to the Guinness Book of World
Records, “Happy Birthday” is one of the most popular songs in the
English language. |