When he was a young man, Gene received an offer from a professional baseball team to become a player. Gene turned down the offer because it would have meant a fifty-dollar-a-month pay cut from his telegrapher's job.
Our Hearts Still Melt for “Frosty the Snow Man” on Its 75th Anniversary
Posted October 15, 2025
When America’s Favorite Cowboy Gene Autry segued from Western hitmaker into holiday magic maker, character-driven songs became his forte – via such beloved subjects as Santa Claus in 1947, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1949, and in 1950, Frosty the Snow Man.
That first year of a new decade was monumental for Gene. By 1950, his massive fanbase had expanded from his first generation of admirers who’d been watching his films and buying his records since the 1930s to a new crop of devotees: Following World War II, the children of his original audience fell in love with the singing cowboy’s movies and weekly CBS radio program. Then he captured even more fans with his brand-new TV show that debuted in 1950, a line of Gene Autry comic books, and, of course, his recordings. That spring, he’d scored another holiday hit with the Easter-themed song, “Peter Cottontail.” Soon after, the catchy number’s songwriters – Steve Nelson and Walter E. “Jack” Rollins – presented to Gene a new holiday classic: “Frosty the Snow Man.” Originally spelled “Snow Man” on its sheet music and the record’s picture sleeve – but today usually spelled Snowman – the song would be the fourth holiday smash forever associated with Gene Autry.
Record Sleeve of
“Peter Cottontail"
Gene Autry from the film “Beyond the Purple Hills” (1950)
Record Sleeve of
“Frosty the Snow Man”
Steve Nelson, born the same year as Gene in 1907, had been collaborating on hit songs since 1948, cowriting with Robert Hilliard the country waltz “Bouquet of Roses” for Eddy Arnold. Apparently inspired by the wintry environs of his home in Armonk, New York, Nelson again teamed with lyricist Jack Rollins to dream up a character as charming as Peter Cottontail: a snow man named Frosty who magically comes to life. One of the song’s characters – a traffic cop who tries to “halt” the free-spirited Frosty – was reportedly modeled on an Armonk police officer. “It was pretty much common knowledge that Mr. Nelson had Armonk in mind when he wrote the song," Armonk Town Board member Rebecca Kittredge said in 2011. “Matter of fact, the traffic cop who hollered 'Stop!' to Frosty was said to be based on the town's former chief of police, John Hergenhan." Nelson set to work with Rollins – a native West Virginian – who’d probably seen his fair share of winter wonderlands. (Fun fact: after cowriting “Frosty,” Rollins would work in 1954 with a country star whose last name was Snow: Canadian Hank Snow and his Rainbow Ranch Boys would score with the Rollins cowrite, “I Don’t Hurt Anymore” and tour with a newcomer named Elvis Presley, soon to be managed by Eddy Arnold’s former manager and Gene’s friend Colonel Tom Parker.)
Rollins and Nelson’s imaginative story about a jolly snow man who jumps into action when children place a magical top hat on his head conveys a wonderful message: Grab the gusto while you can, and even if that moment is fleeting, remember that joy will return; though the hot sun will make Frosty disappear, the cheery snow man will come again another winter day (a particularly hopeful message 75 years later as we worry about the effects of climate change).
The Cass County Boys
and Gene Autry
The Pinafores and Gene Autry
Record Sleeve of
“Frosty the Snow Man”
Record Label of
“Frosty the Snow Man”
Record Label of
“When Santa Claus Gets
Your Letter”
Of course, Gene’s warm vocals and clearly enunciated storytelling made “Frosty” an immediate sensation among audiences who glommed onto the lyrics and began singing along. He debuted it on his national CBS program, “The Gene Autry Melody Ranch Radio Show” on October 7, 1950. From the CBS Studio in New York City, he introduced it on the airwaves: “Now folks, even though we may be rushin' the season just a little, here's a song we recently recorded that we think's going to be a big, big, hit – it's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's friend – “Frosty the Snow Man." Gene knew a good song when he heard one: the single quickly climbed to Number 7 on the Hit Parade and soared to Number 4 on the country chart. That fall it became part of Gene’s repertoire as he and his touring revue performed around the U.S. and Canada, and he sang “Frosty” again on his radio show on November 18. By December, it had reached the ranks of Gene’s other holiday hits – “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)” (which he cowrote with Oakley Halderman) and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – as crowd pleasers.
Record Sleeve of “Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)”
Record Sleeve of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
The record became a popular holiday gift that year. As with “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Rudolph,” Columbia released “Frosty” with a colorful picture sleeve. According to music historian Dave Marsh, this “marketing innovation emerged in the late ‘40s” beginning with Gene’s record “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Marsh points out that “this … sales technique was based on the theory that if a youngster or his mother were shopping for records, and the kid spotted a colorful cartoon picture of Santa on the sleeve of ‘Here Comes Santa Claus,’ Junior would pester Mom until she put some cash into the pocket of the shrewd record marketer. Picture sleeves soon became a prestige part of any single release.” By year’s end, Gene was the only Western singer among the top ten male vocalists in the annual Gallup poll. The Gene Autry Show – the first new television series developed by and starring a major Hollywood star – certainly increased the audience for his records as well. Indeed, 1950 was a banner year for Gene.
Half Sheet Poster of the film “Melody Ranch” (1940)
Gene Autry and Jimmy Durante from the film “Melody Ranch” (1940)
Gene’s “Frosty the Snow Man” recording would inspire hundreds of cover versions, beginning later that year by his old pal Jimmy Durante, who costarred in the 1940 Gene Autry film, Melody Ranch. (Durante’s “Frosty” would be used in the 1969 animated “Frosty the Snowman” TV special.) In 2024, ASCAP listed the song as one of the Top 25 Holiday Songs of the Year – along with “Here Comes Santa Claus” and “Rudolph.” By the fall of 2025, Gene’s “Frosty” had nearly 8 million streams on Spotify. Though Gene’s version remains the highest charting, “Frosty the Snow Man” has been recorded by a diversity of artists, from Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis to the Ronettes and the Jackson 5. But it was Gene Autry who originally gave voice 75 years ago to the freshly minted song written with him in mind – making “Frosty the Snow Man” a beloved yuletide tradition.
– Holly George-Warren
Two-time Grammy nominee Holly George-Warren is the award-winning author of 18 books, including “Public Cowboy No. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry” (Oxford University Press, 2007). Her other biographies include “Janis: Her Life and Music” and “A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton.” She has co-written books with Dolly Parton and Woodstock festival producer Michael Lang, and contributed to such publications as “Rolling Stone,” the “New York Times,” “Oprah Daily,” and “Texas Monthly,” among others.
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