<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Music video </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> "White Christmas" on YouTube </Td> </Tr> <P> "White Christmas" is a 1942 Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old - fashioned Christmas setting . The version sung by Bing Crosby is the world's best - selling single with estimated sales in excess of 100 million copies worldwide . Other versions of the song, along with Crosby's, have sold over 50 million copies . </P> <P> Accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song . One story is that he wrote it in 1940, in warm La Quinta, California, while staying at the La Quinta Hotel, a frequent Hollywood retreat also favored by writer - director - producer Frank Capra, although the Arizona Biltmore also claims the song was written there . He often stayed up all night writing--he told his secretary, "Grab your pen and take down this song . I just wrote the best song I've ever written--heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody's ever written!" </P>

When did the song white christmas come out