Why exactly Bing Crosby was so famous will remain a mystery. To later generations he appears as a bland, likeable-enough fellow, with a dulcet singing voice and an upbeat, “it’s good to be normal” attitude. He wasn’t particularly good looking, nor funny, though he did have a casual, thrown-away charisma.

Yet back in the 1940s Crosby was like the equivalent of the Beatles to another generation. A poll taken in the ’40s declared him “the most popular man alive.” Go figure.

But Der Bingle, as he was lovingly known, does have one saving grace for later generations. When he croons “White Christmas” in that warm-blanket voice of his, you can almost see Santa coursing across the sky. (Oh, and Crosby’s version sold more than 30 million copies.) So here it is, your dose of Der Bingle:

Trivia point: “White Christmas,” probably the most popular Christmas song ever, was written by a composer who happened to be Jewish, Irving Berlin. There’s a great charming irony in that. And Berlin, who lived to age 101, also wrote “Easter Parade.”