Francis Scott Key wrote the poem "Star Spangled Banner" during the war of 1812. The poem attained wide popularity when sung to the tune of "To Anacreon in heaven", a traditional British drinking song; it was officially named the US Anthem in 1931.

The song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was created in 1939 in Chicago as a Christmas promotion for the Montgomery Ward dept stores. The lyrics were written as a poem by Robert May, and weren't set to music until 1947; Gene Autry recorded the hit song in 1949.