(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?

"(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?"
Single by Patti Page
B-side"My Jealous Eyes"
ReleasedJanuary 1953 (US)
March 28, 1953 (UK)
RecordedDecember 18, 1952
with "Barks by Joe and Mac"
GenreNovelty, traditional pop
Length2:58
LabelMercury (US)
Oriole (UK)
Songwriter(s)Bob Merrill
Patti Page singles chronology
"Conquest"
(1952) 		"(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" / "My Jealous Eyes"
(1953) 		"Now That I'm in Love"
(1953)

"(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song written by Bob Merrill and first registered on September 25, 1952, as "The Doggie in the Window". On January 27, 1953, its sheet music was published in New York as "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window".[1]

The best-known version of the song was the original, recorded by Patti Page on December 18, 1952, and released in January 1953 by Mercury Records as catalog numbers 70070 (78 rpm) and 70070X45 (45 rpm) under the title "The Doggie in the Window", with the flip side being "My Jealous Eyes". It reached No. 1 on both the Billboard and Cash Box charts in 1953 and sold over two million copies.[2] Mercury, however, had poor distribution in the United Kingdom. Therefore, a recording by Lita Roza was the one most widely heard in that country, reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1953.[3] It distinguished Roza as the first British woman to have a No. 1 hit in the UK chart and was also the first song with a question in the title to reach the top spot.[3]

  1. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. (1953). United States: (n.p.). Here the parentheses are omitted and the title ends with a question mark. https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Catalog_of_Copyright_Entries/KjAhAQAAIAAJ
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research.
  3. ^ a b Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 9. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.