Gayla Peevey, at age 10, recorded the holiday hit "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" in 1953, leading to a successful ...

She was a children's Christmas song come to life. On Dec. 24, 1953, a 700-pound "baby" lumbered from her moving crate into the awaiting water at Oklahoma City's Lincoln Park Zoo. "I Want a ...

When Gayla Peevey's catchy Christmas wish for a hippopotamus came true in 1953, she didn't need to test the lyrical theory that a two-car garage would have plenty of room to house her "hippo hero." ...

LOS ANGELES – All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl named Gayla Peevey wanted for Christmas in 1953 was a hippopotamus. And amazingly enough, after “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas” became the ...

Gayla Peevey can’t avoid hippos, even if she wanted to. “People assume I collect them, so they give them to me,” she tells me from her home near Mt. Helix. “I have figurines and a lot of stuffed ...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- This time of year, radio stations get nostalgic with songs about sleigh rides and silver bells, but there's another Christmas classic that has endured the test of time for more ...

Over the past few decades, Gayla Peevey has become accustomed to blowing children's minds. On one hand, she's the little girl crooning the hallowed holiday song "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas." ...

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LOS ANGELES — All a cute, curly haired 10-year-old girl named Gayla Peevey wanted for Christmas in 1953 was a hippopotamus. And amazingly enough, after “I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas” became the ...