Decca Records Catalogue A-403.

The album Merry Christmas was released in 1945 on Decca Records. It has
remained in print through the vinyl and compact disc eras, currently as the
disc White Christmas on MCA Records, a part of the Universal Music Group,
reissued in June 1995. It includes Crosby’s signature song "White Christmas",
the best-selling single ever, with sales of over 50 million copies worldwide. The
album itself has sold over 15 million copies, and is the second best-selling
Christmas album of all-time behind Elvis Presley‘s 1957 holiday album Elvis’
Christmas Album, which has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.

    William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946)

Hart was a successful Shakespearean actor on Broadway who also
appeared in the original 1899 stage production of Ben-Hur. He went
on to become one of the great stars of the motion picture western. He 
entered films in 1914 where, after supporting roles in two short films,he
achieved stardom as the lead in the feature The Bargain.

Fascinated by the Old West, he acquired Billy the Kid‘s "six shooters"
and was a friend of legendary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. 

              
                Hart in Ben-Hur

              Bill Porter (September 9, 1932- December 4, 2013)

Born with cerebral palsy in San Francisco, CA, Porter moved to Portland. OR.
with his mother at a young age. Unable to gain employment due to his disability,
Porter never gave up and eventually convinced Watkins Incorporated, makers
of baking products and other household items, to give him a door-to-door sales
job. He sold Watkins products within a seven-mile route in the Portland area and
soon became a top salesman for the company.

Bill Porter’s successful determination brought him media attention across the U.S
when The Oregonian newspaper in 1995 ran a feature story about him. In 2002
a made-for-TV movie starring William H. Macy called Door to Door aired on TNT.

A long time friend, Shelly Brady, said “it wasn’t the disease that he fought that
killed him, it was a regular infection.

Little Richard (Richard Wayne Penniman) is 81 today