Legend of Rudolph

Origin of the legend

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is the only addition to the Santa folklore in the twentieth century. In 1939, Robert May, an advertising copywriter for the Montgomery Ward Department Store in Chicago conceived the idea for a shiny nosed reindeer, a Santa’s helper to distribute to parents and children. An artist friend, Denver Gillen spent hours at a local zoo drawing whimsical sketches of reindeer at rest and play. After many names, May finally settled on naming the reindeer Rudolph, the preference of his four-year old daughter. That Christmas in 1939, 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booklet were handed out at Montgomery Ward stores across the country.

Rudolph was reprinted as a Christmas booklet sporadically until 1947. That winter a friend of May’s, Johnny Marks, put the poem to music. One professional singer after the next declined the opportunity to record the song until 1949 when Gene Autry consented. The Autry recording rocketed to the top of the Hit Parade. Since then, 300 different recordings have been made and more than eighty million records sold. The original Autry hit is second only to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas as the best  selling record of all times.

Sharon Donovan

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