Fun Fact #444 Getting the Snowball Rollin'

 Fun Fact #444

Getting the Snowball Rollin'

In the quiet town of Scottsdale Pennsylvania, On September 15th 1906, Walter E. “Jack” Rollins was born. When he was young his mother got Glaucoma and they worked together to sell magazines and newspapers.  At night his mother would come up with characters (like Hardrock, Coco, and Joe) while Jack would come up with short songs based around them to entertain his siblings. 

Later when he was employed as a baggage handler in New York, he was still making song ideas for the fun of it and selling them as a freelancer when in 1949 he and Steve Nelson wrote the song “Peter Cottontail” becoming a commercial success overnight. Riding the high from this Jack decided he’d give another shot at writing a tune for his favorite of his mother’s ideas: Frosty the Snowman who debuted in late spring of 1950. 

As time continued “Jack” would continue to write and invent characters such as “Smokey the Bear” (Although Smokey bear already existed the two characters were later merged for use by the Forest service) and writing 500+ songs over his 35 year career. 

These songs weren't just limited to children's lyrics however, since most country songwriters sought him out at least once such as Johnny Cash, Frankie Yankovic, Frank Snow, and Charles (Charlie) Daniels and even breaking genre lines such as “The Jackson 5”. He was posthumously inducted into the West Virginia Hall of fame in 2011.