Bach Seat

Santa’s reindeer, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen have been around since 1823 when they first appeared in Clement Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. But Santa’s most famous reindeer, Rudolph didn’t even exist until 1939. As shocking as that is, here are some more secrets about Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.

Rudolph worked for Montgomery Ward In 1939, execs for the now-defunct Montgomery Ward department store decided they needed a character for the freebie coloring books they were handing out to kids who visited Santa. That character ended up being Rudolph, who was an immediate hit with the kiddies. Montgomery Ward gave out 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booklet in the first year alone. In 1948 Fleischer Studios, the home of Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman created a Rudolph cartoon as an advert for Montgomery Ward.

He could have been Rollo. Rudolph might have had another name. Robert L. May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward’s mail-order catalog division, who wrote the story considered a number of names. Santa’s new reindeer might have been named Rollo, Reginald, Romeo, or Rodney until they settled on Rudolph.

Rudolph nearly lost his red nose. At first, Rudolph used a different method to guide Santa’s sleigh. Instead of having a red, glowing nose that cuts through the fog, Mr. May considered giving Rudolph large, headlight-like eyes that would light the way. After much consideration, he decided mean kids would be more likely to make fun of a red nose than huge eyes.

He has a son named Robbie. The BBC developed three cartoons based on Rudolph’s offspring, but the name of Robbie’s famous dad is never actually mentioned. The plotline tells us that the villain of the series, Blitzen, can’t stand to hear Rudolph’s name. In reality, it’s because the BBC couldn’t get permission to use it (or didn’t want to pay to use it). Fox Family ran the show in the U.S. for a few years in the early 2000s with re-dubbed voices, including Ben Stiller as Robbie, Hugh Grant as Blitzen, Britney Spears as Donner, and Brad Garrett as Prancer.

Robert May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks who wrote the lyrics for some of the most beloved holiday songs including, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Run, Rudolph, Run,” and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” also wrote the lyrics and melody for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

The song was recorded 10 years after the character was invented. Bing Crosby turned down the song and Gene Autry nearly passed on the tune, but his wife urged him to give it a shot. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” became number 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1949. Since Mr. Autry recorded it, the tune has sold more than two million copies in its first Christmas, with over 150 million copies sold to date.

The Ventures recorded their version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1965 – In which they included a very noticeable riff from the Beatles.

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The 1964 Rankin/Bass stop-motion TV special is the longest-running holiday special ever. However this year Rudolph has come under attack, led by the Huffington Post. What the hater miss is the Jewish experience baked into the story. In the Rudolph story, the author turned a mark of antisemitism into a point of pride. Mr. May and company made the stereotypical Jewish nose noble at Christmas-time.

Rudolph’s red nose first has other reindeer laughing, calling “him names,” never letting “poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games.” “Then one foggy Christmas Eve” Rudolph with his “nose so bright” helps guide Santa’s “sleigh tonight.”

Author May explained,

Today children all over the world read and hear about the little deer who started out in life as a loser, just as I did. But they learn that when he gave himself for others, his handicap became the very means through which he received happiness.” Thus, Rudolph’s mass marketing and altruistic message, not just Rudolph’s gift-delivering-heroics, “will go down in history.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.