A Little More History About Gayla Peevey, Mathilda the Hippo and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”
Posted on: May 5, 2011
Researching “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,”
*
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
Words and Music by John Rox
Illustrations by Bruce Whatley
Published by HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 2005
ISBN 978-0-06-052942-0
…for my upcoming show and CD, “Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret,” I wondered if the story was true about Gayla Peevey recording the song to raise money for Mathilda the Hippo at the Oklahoma City Zoo and if Mathilda or her descendents were still there.
I wrote the zoo to ask about the story and if Mathilda’s descendants still resided at the zoo and Candice Rennels, Manager of Marketing & Public Relations at the Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden, kindly responded to my questions:
Dear Emily,
Thank you for your email and interest in one of the Oklahoma City Zoo’s
animal legacies, Mathilda the hippo! Mathilda lived a very long and happy
life here at the Zoo until her death in 1998. She was a Nile hippopotamus
which the Zoo no longer has in its collection. Currently we have pygmy
hippopotamus, smaller cousins to the Nile hippo.
About Mathilda and the song “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”…When
Gayla Peevy, a 10-year-old Oklahoma singer, recorded the hit song “I Want a
Hippopotamus for Christmas” in 1953, the Oklahoma City Zoo began a campaign
to purchase a real hippo. Children sent in over $3,500 in pocket change,
just in time for Mathilda the Hippo to be delivered Christmas Eve. Gayla
welcomed the new arrival to her home.
Mathilda’s story is shared in two books written about the Zoo’s history. The
first, “Oklahoma City Zoo, Now & Then” is available in our Gift Shop. The
second was written by Amy Stephens, Senior Education Naturalist here at the
Zoo, and is entitled “Oklahoma City Zoo 1902-1959” and is available on
Amazon.com at
http://www.amazon.com/Oklahoma-City-1902-1959-Images-America/dp/0738540498.
We also sell the attached T-shirts in our gift shops if you are interested
in purchasing one just let me know.
I hope this information is helpful. If you would like to learn more about
Mathilda or Amy’s book feel free to email her at astephens@okczoo.com. Or,
feel free to contact me if there’s anything else I can help you with.
Kind regards,
Candice Rennels
Turns out, Gayla Peevey, who was 10, recorded the song and then just after that, Gayla and the song became associated with the Oklahoma City Zoo’s efforts to acquire a hippo.
The whole story, starting on page 115, is in (along with pictures of Mathilda as a baby and her “wedding” invitation a few years later),
Oklahoma City Zoo 1902-1959
By Amy Dee Stephens
As for Gayla Peevey, it seems she moved to California (where she still lives) married and had children, recorded more songs under the name “Jamie Horton,” was a teacher and worked in advertising. Here is a brief wiki article about her life:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayla_Peevey
A great post (December 2010) from the KOSU Radio, Okalhoma City Public Radio Station website, and Gayla Peevey (now 67/68 year old Gayla Henderson) is briefly interviewed:
http://kosu.org/2010/12/hippopotamus-christmas-song-still-an-annual-favorite/
Sing Books with Emily, the Blog 
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