Yes, and no. In 1941, the Chattanooga Choo Choo – the song, not the choo choo – sold 1.2 million copies in three months. To enhance the publicity of the recording, RCA took a copy of the record and painted it gold. Then it presented the gold record to Glenn Miller during the radio broadcast held in honor of his one million records sold. The RIAA, Record Industry Association of America, liked the ‘gold record’ concept – and the publicity – so much it became a marketing ritual. Was the Chattanooga Choo Choo the first record to sell one million copies? It is unknown but probably not. Al Jolson’s Ragging the Baby to Sleep sold a million copies in 1912.

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