The AP has the story on how the popular carol came to the U.S. from England…the sheet music was brought across the pond by Emily Francis Brown, an English professor at Milwaukee-Downer College, who discovered it while browsing in a bookstore in Oxford, England in 1910. The song was later included in Christmas celebrations on the campus of the U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (evolved from Milwaukee-Downer College).
Ron Wiecki, a music librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the list of odd gifts gives the song “a certain antique feel” that may explain its popularity.
“It’s sort of like ’99 Bottles of Beer,”’ Wiecki said.
The song also gets attention each year when media estimate the cost of the gifts; now about $18,900.
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