Gayla Peevey of Oklahoma was 10 when she recorded "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" in 1953. She was on hand in 2017 when a hippo was welcomed to the Oklahoma City zoo.

When Gayla Peevey recorded 'I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas' in 1953, she says she had no idea people would be singing it decades later. LOS ANGELES - All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl ...

In 1953, the then 10-year-old Peevey sang the novelty hit “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas.” It led to a statewide fund drive in which children donated dimes to purchase and bring a ...

So, it's fitting that Peevey will celebrate the 70th anniversary of “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” at a special sing-along Nov. 9 at the OKC Zoo's newly reimagined Love’s Pachyderm ...

In 1953, Gayla Peevey used the popularity of her hit "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" to help the OKC Zoo get its first hippo. Mathilda.

When she recorded "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" in 1953, Gayla Peevey says she had no idea schoolchildren would be singing it 63 years later. Latest U.S.

And amazingly enough, after "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" became the biggest hit song of that holiday season, she actually got one, a 700-pound baby named Matilda.

Gayla Peevey, singer of that enduring Christmas classic, “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas,” stands next to an image she drew of a hippopotamus in her home Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, in La ...

After "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas" became the biggest hit song of the holiday in 1985, she actually got a 700-pound baby named Matilda and promptly donated it to the Oklahoma City Zoo.