The famous Christmas song “Winter Wonderland” was first published in 1934. The lyricist was Richard B. Smith (1901-1935) the composer was Felix Bernard (1897-1944).
     Smith was in the West Mountain Sanitarium being treated for tuberculosis. While being treated, he entered contests for jingles and ads for companies. Richard Smith’s sister, Marjorie W. Smith, claimed her brother was inspired by the beauty of the freshly fallen snow in the park when he wrote the “Winter Wonderland” poem.
     Sadly, Richard Smith died in 1935, at the age of 34. He lived long enough to hear Guy Lombard and the Royal Canadians Orchestra, perform his song the Christmas before he died.
     The most popular versions of this classic Christmas song were recorded to high acclaim by the Andrews Sisters, Johnny Mathis and Perry Como, and more recently, The Carpenters and Amy Grant. In 2023, Laufey covered the song for Spotify as part of their Spotify Singles Holiday series. The cover became the highest-charting version of the song in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The lyrics of “Winter Wonderland” have undoubtedly contributed to the magical vision of snow at Christmas together with the tradition of building snowmen, therefore turning fantasy into reality by creating a real Winter Wonderland.