Words and music for "Good Morning to All" were first published in the music book, "Song Stories for the Kindergarten" in 1893, according to the book "The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular and Folk" by James Fuld. The Hill sisters were listed on the songbook as the authors.
Public Domain photo
Patty, born in 1868, taught classes at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School, while Mildred, born in 1859, taught music. She was also a composer and performer. Although Patty would claim the students sang "Happy Birthday" to the tune written by her sister, the first published record of those lyrics was in 1912.
A simple song
After extensive research on the song's origins, attorney Robert Braunels wrote in his paper "Copyright and the World's Most Popular Song," that there was no birthday song prior to that time because there were no birthday celebrations. He wrote: "According to scholar Elizabeth Pleck, birthday parties did not become common even among wealthy Americans until the late 1830s; modern birthday cakes emerged after 1850; and peer-culture birthday parties, involving children of the same age as the child whose birthday was being celebrated, emerged between 1870 and 1920, after American urban public schools became age-graded."
When "Happy Birthday" was published, it quickly steamrolled into America's most popular song and then the world's most popular tune, Braunels said.
According to IMDb, the song has been used in 143 movies and television shows. And who could forget – after dozens of airings of the tape – when Marilyn Monroe sang a very sensual version of the song to honor President John F. Kennedy?
The Happy Birthday Park Facebook page
The battle over ownership
Do you recall that several restaurant chains in the 1990s and 2000s began to make up their own birthday songs or chants to sing when they brought a special dessert to the celebrating guest? There was a reason for that beyond stretching their creativity muscles: A company was charging people royalties for use of "Happy Birthday To You."
It wasn't until 2016, after a court battle, that the song was returned to the public domain.
Mildred Hill died in 1916; Patty in 1946. During their lifetimes, they were forced to defend rights to the song on several occasions. But no one could have foreseen the journey their little tune would take into the 21st century.
The sisters did not have a copyright on "Happy Birthday to You," though they did hold one for "Good Morning to All." In 1935, according to All That's Interesting, a third Hill sister, Jessica, published the song with the Clayton F. Summy Co. and applied for a copyright.
Upon the deaths of the Hill sisters, Summy Co. claimed rights to the song. The company was sold to a new owner and renamed Birch Tree Limited. Eventually, the company was purchased by Warner Music, a division of Warner Bros., who continued to claim rights to the song. Although the copyright filed by Jessica Hill was valid through 1991, Warner claimed it owned a copyright through 2030, all the while raking in millions.
Marker in Louisville, Ky.The Happy Birthday Park Facebook page
Finally, a group of film makers tired of paying for rights to the song decided to fight for the rights in court. After all, copyright law stated that anything published in the 1920s was in the public domain. Why wasn't "Happy Birthday?" A U.S. district court in California agreed and the song was released into the public domain in 2016.
Honoring the Hills
There are at least two historical markers in Louisville honoring the Hills, including one at their grave site in Cave Hill Cemetery. The sisters were also posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Currently, a group of citizens is working to build a park in their honor, called Happy Birthday Park. The group's mission, as posted on its Facebook page, says: "The Happy Birthday Park will provide a cultural, artistic and economic icon for Louisville, celebrating the spirit of innovation and excellence that defines our city, as is embodied in the lifework of Mildred Jane Hill and Patty Smith Hill and their enduring demonstration of the community value of play and the potential that lies within very child."
A group spokesperson said in September of 2019 that the park committee will be announcing a location for the park "soon" and will then start the design process.
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