For the first nine years (1961-1969), the albums always had the same title: "The Great Songs of Christmas." In 1970, the album was called "The Best of the Great Songs of Christmas" and featured songs already included in prior releases. The remaining albums had different titles each year, although "Great Songs of Christmas" was used a couple of times along the way.
All but the final release were on vinyl. But I did find a couple of cases where a release was made available on 8-track tape. The last release came after LP's were out of style, and was only available on CD and cassette.
The first three releases were available in mono only; the next three could be purchased in mono or stereo; and all subsequent were sold only in stereo.
The first 14 albums were produced by Columbia Records through its Columbia Special Products subsidiary, and most often featured artists from the Columbia stable. Occasionally, a single performance was used on more than one album. Selections were also sometimes edited down or together from their original form. The 1975, 1976, and 1977 albums were handled through RCA on their RCA Special Products label. (Of course, RCA was no stranger to the Christmas album/tire company biz: they issued Christmas album series for both Firestone and B F Goodrich through the sixties and early seventies.) The RCA releases are definitely rarer than the Columbia releases and may not have been released as widely. The final album was back in the CBS camp.
Although the bulk of the recordings used to make each LP were taken from existing Christmas albums by the individual artists, some tracks were commissioned by Goodyear to be used specifically for the album series. Some of these have appeared in much later CD releases, but there are a few that have not appeared in the digital era in any form. We can only hope that the rights can be arranged and the vaults opened to let these see the light of day again.
Another interesting aspect of their availability had to due with ordering "back issues." Starting with the fourth LP in 1964, buyers had the option of ordering the prior three album releases by mail, using an order envelope included with the record. The option to purchase prior albums ceased after the 1971 album. I have included pictures of these with the album, where I can find them.
Unsponsored editions
I haven't confirmed why - maybe it's related to people ordering old releases through the mail - but the first 7 albums can be found without any mention of Goodyear at all. I refer to these as "unsponsored editions." The content and artwork pretty much matched the Goodyear album so I have included these on the page for each album. They're easy to spot, as the Goodyear logo and reference is blacked out on the album's front cover, and there is no Goodyear logo on the record labels.
Ads & Marketing
Much of what I have discovered about the Goodyear albums has come from items found for sale on eBay. That has included not only the records themselves, but also some advertising material like print ads and posters etc to be displayed in the stores. I have posted what I have found on each applicable album page, and hope I can keep finding more in the years to come. Amazing to think that for the first fourteen years, the price of these albums never changed - always one dollar. They went up a quarter when RCA took over. Cost of living!
I have also included links (where applicable) to YouTube for the television ads that were sometimes used as part of the sales campaign.