White Christmas was written by Irving Berlin. He also wrote such songs as "God Bless America", Alexander's Ragtime Band", and "There's no business like show business" He died in 1989 at the age of 101. I stole this answer from "Wiki User" on the question "Who wrote White Christmas", they had some interesting information.
Irving Berlin, a prominent American composer and lyricist, did not celebrate Christmas primarily due to his Jewish heritage. Born in 1888 in a Jewish family, he was not raised with Christian traditions. However, he did write the famous Christmas song "White Christmas," which reflects his acknowledgment of the holiday's cultural significance, even if he personally did not celebrate it.
It remains a mystery where and when and how long it took Irving Berlin to write White Christmas because Mr Berlin gave many different accounts. According to Wikipedia he may have written it in 1940 while pool side at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix Arizona. Weight is added to this story by a call he is said to have placed to his secretary. He said "grab a pen and take down this song. Its the best song I've ever written-heck its the best song anybody has ever written." Mr Berlin often stayed up all night writing but maybe he did write it pool side in a short period of time.
He never gave an answer to what inspired him to write the classic Christmas song. Irving Berlin was often away from home and family in the East. In 1937 a producer friend sent him a short video of his family waving to him from in front of the family home on a snowy winter day. That could have triggered an idea. He is also said to have possibly been influenced by Robert Frost's poem Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening or by Stephen Foster's Home Songs.
1915
1933
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) wrote popular music and Broadway show tunes. From Alexander's Rag Time Bandwritten in 1911, God Bless America in 1918, Puttin' on the Ritz in 1930, Easter Parade in 1933, White Christmas in 1942, There's No Business Like Show Business in 1946, Steppin' Out With My Baby in 1948, through the 1950 show Call Me Madam with Ethel Merman. He wrote the scores for 19 Broadway shows and 18 Hollywood films. He wrote hundreds of popular songs sung by all the greats of the first half of the twentieth century and many more since then.
Yes, Annie Get Your Gun
He intended to use it in the 1918 show "Yip Yip Yaphank," but it was cut.
It appears in "Easter Parade." I don't know if it was written specifically for that movie.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to know Where the treetops glisten, and children listen To hear sleigh bells in the snow I'm dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white I'm dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to know Where the treetops glisten, and children listen To hear sleigh bells in the snow I'm dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white I'm dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all your Christmases be white http://www.carols.org.uk/white_christmas.htm
Im dreaming of a white Christmas,with every Christmas card I write, may your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmas' be white.