Song Facts
This novelty Christmas song was written by Don Gardner (1913-2004), who is not to be confused with the vocalist and drummer Don Gardner. After graduating from 
Westchester University, Pennsylvania, Donald Yetter Gardner and his wife Doris moved to Smithtown, New York where they taught music at the local elementary school.
In 1998, half a century after his first and only Billboard hit, he gave an interview at his Massachusetts home in which the couple performed the song, and where he explained how he came to write it. In 1944, when Doris had a baby, he took over her second grade class. The whole school system was in one building, he said, and as Christmas approached, he was asked to come up with a song for the holiday concert. One day, he was in class when the teacher asked the pupils what present they wanted. Each replied: "all I want for Christmas..." Gardner noticed that out of a class of 22, no less than 16 had both front teeth missing - something which is not uncommon in infants as their milk teeth are replaced by their permanent ones.
Westchester University, Pennsylvania, Donald Yetter Gardner and his wife Doris moved to Smithtown, New York where they taught music at the local elementary school.
In 1998, half a century after his first and only Billboard hit, he gave an interview at his Massachusetts home in which the couple performed the song, and where he explained how he came to write it. In 1944, when Doris had a baby, he took over her second grade class. The whole school system was in one building, he said, and as Christmas approached, he was asked to come up with a song for the holiday concert. One day, he was in class when the teacher asked the pupils what present they wanted. Each replied: "all I want for Christmas..." Gardner noticed that out of a class of 22, no less than 16 had both front teeth missing - something which is not uncommon in infants as their milk teeth are replaced by their permanent ones.