Though synonymous today with birthday celebrations, for the first few decades of its existence the song we know as “Happy Birthday To You” had no connection to birthdays at all. As USA Today notes, the song’s origins can be traced back to two music-loving sisters in Louisville, Kentucky, named Patty and Mildred Hill. Mildred was an accomplished pianist, while Patty was a kindergarten teacher whose daily work involved teaching songs to young children. Patty became interested in developing the kind of songs that children would find stimulating, but would also be simple enough for them to learn. Patty enlisted Mildred to help create new compositions, which Patty would then test on her students.
“She was the musician and I was, if it is not using too pretentious a word, the poetess,” recalled Patty in the 1930s. The sisters were attempting to create music that would be accessible to Patty’s students, songs that Patty claimed “even the youngest children could learn with perfect ease” (via USA Today). What began as “Good Morning To All” appeared in the 1893 volume “Song Stories for the Kindergarten,” written by Patty and Mildred, alongside other simple ditties with titles such as “Merry Little Snow-flakes,” “The Rain on the Roof” and “Skipping Song.” The Hill sisters’ songs were seemingly a big hit with the children, especially “Good Morning To All,” as the melody’s enduring popularity suggests.
