Jerome Kern was once asked where he would place Irving Berlin in the pantheon of American music. "Irving Berlin," he famously replied, "is American music."

[Jonathan Takiff, The Philadelphia Daily News once pointed out an unusual show-business phenomena: "Jews write the best Christmas songs": "White Christmas," "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" were composed by Irving Berlin, Mel Torme, and Johnny Marks, respectively.]