The Only Thing I Want For Christmas (Is Just To Keep The Things That I've Got) is a 1939 recording by Jimmy Durante at the Internet Archive.

If Santa passes by my stocking, I promise not to mind a lot
The only thing I want for Christmas is just to keep the things that I've got
A pair of loving arms around me, a garden of forget-me-nots
The only thing I want for Christmas is just to keep the things that I've got

A friend or two, a peaceful sky of blue,
a place to hang my hat when work of day is through,
If Santa passes by my chimney, I'll still be happy, like as not
The only thing I want for Christmas is just to keep the things that I've got...

I remember seeing Durante on early TV variety shows, a vaudeville comedian and (to us, corny) song-and-dance man famous for his "schnozzola" -- a large bulbous nose.

Source: Paul's Ramblings pulled together a linklist of pre-1940 Christmas tunes. Some are historical curiosities, primitively recorded, many reflect the year they were born and fears of the world that year.

Machine intelligence: Providence Geeks meet Wednesday from 5 p.m. till 9 at their loose monthly gathering in the offline world of the AS220 storefront, 115 Empire St.. The topic is robots:

Providence Geeks is a proud sponsor of Rhode Island’s 2008 FIRST FTC Robotics Challenge. The program provides high school students the opportunity to build working robots and test their creations in head-to-head competition.

At Wednesday’s Geek Dinner, Tech Collective President Tim Hebert and other RI FIRST FTC team members will give an overview of the program, the kids, & the robots, and explain how Providence Geeks members can serve as volunteer mentors and referees.

More at this link.