It
By ROBERT L. MAY as told to Alfred Balk
& HOW RUDOLPH CAME TO CHRISTMAS
Rudolph, Ihe Red-Nosed Reindeer, has nuzzled his way into the hearts of the world's children; here his creator tells how this endearing animal was born
All OVER the world this Christmas,
l children are writing letters to Ru
dolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, remem
bering him in their prayers, and pre
paring holiday snacks of hay and vege
tables for him.
Yet as Christmas traditions go, the bright
eyed, flop-eared little fellow is relatively a new
comer. It was only 24 years ago that a series of
fortunate incidents brought Rudolph into being
on my writing pad.
Since then, of course, he has become one of the
best-known symbols of Christmas. More than
four million copies of the Rudolph story have
been purchased in a hard-cover edition making
it an all-time best seller. Some 300 different ar
rangements of the hit song based on the Rudolph
Btory have been recorded, and their total sales
in the United States alone have been 3.5 million
ranking it second only to "White Christmas"
as a consistent seller.
What's more, Rudolph has been seen by mil
lions in an animated cartoon and in a comic strip
that is syndicated in 25 countries.
Wherever Santa is a part of Christmas, he and
Rudolph seem inseparable. In fact, sociologist
James H. Barnett, author of the recent study
The American Christmas, says Rudolph is "
flit
only original addition to the folklore of Santa
Claus in this century."
The Red-Nosed Reindeer was born in Chicago
when I was working in the advertising copy
writing department of Montgomery Ward & Co.
Abotrt-the -rmly -non-advertising writing Hiad
done were little song parodies to amuse friends
at parties. Certainly, few executives of the firm
even knew I existed. But just before Christmas
in 1937 I had an unusual opportunity to come to
their attention.
In organizing entertainment for an office party,
John A. Martin, a Ward's executive, found him
self woefully short of singers, dancers, and other
talent. I volunteered to help by contributing sev
eral parodies. Somewhat hesitantly, he agreed,
and to my good fortune my efforts were so well
received that I- was invited to do an encore the
next Christmas.
A Very Special Reindeer
Thus, when H. E. MacDonald, the company's
retail sales manager, got an idea for a Christmas
promotional device for all the company's stores
in 1939, he called me in.
"I'd like to provide a little booklet that could
be given away to create good will," he said. "I
thought of a children's story on the order of Fer- ,
dinand the Bull. Could you write a funny little
story for us in verse?" I was flabbergasted, but
I promptly accepted.
Then came the problem of working out a sub
ject for the story. What should it be? An animal,
of course, but what kind of animal? A reindeer
seemed a logical choice, for reindeer more than
any other animals are associated with the Christ
mas season and Santa Claus. But what would be
special about the reindeer?
I pondered this question for many days.
The story, The Ugly Duckling, and others like
it always had appealed to me. I had been small
and shy throughout childhood and had known
what it was like to be an underdog. My reindeer,
then,-wouldi)e amiglyTiuckling, shunned by-others
but vindicated in some way in a happy ending.
This happy ending for a Christmas reindeer
story automatically suggested Santa Claus. So
what could there be about a reindeer that would
make him- different from others yet especially
useful to Santa?
Some kind of superstrength or speed? No, ob
viously that would win him respect, even awe.
Perhaps eyes that shone in the dark and helped
Santa find his way? That was it, something that
would shine in the dark! But not the eyes. Again,
that would be no handicap and certainly no rea
son for poking fun at him.
No, not shiny eyes, but how about a small rein
deer with a big, red nose so bright that it actu
ally glowed? With this in my mind, the outline
of the plot became easy, and I jotted it down and
rushed to MacDonald's office to read it to him.
To my dismay, he threw up his hands in horror.
"Bob," he said, "we can't do it! A reindeer
with a nose like that would be a monstrosity!"
But for some reason, I couldn't get the little
red-nosed reindeer out of my mind. A few days
later, I went down to the art department and
asked a friend, Denver Gillen, who is now a
prominent magazine illustrator, whether he could
make a tasteful sketch of a reindeer with a nose
so red that it glowed in the dark.
"I'll try," he promised, and, to help in his ef
forts, he and I visited the Lincoln Park Zoo the
following Saturday. We showed the resulting
sketches to MacDonald and the company's art di
rector, and they liked them. The little reindeer
had won a reprieve!
But he still had no name. It seemed advisable
that it begin with "R" for alliterative purposes.
Rollo? That sounded too happy for a reindeer
with such an unhappy problem.Reginald?That
seemed too sophisticated. How about Rudolph?
That rolled off the tongue nicely with "red-nosed"
and "reindeer," so Rudolph it was!
The Reindeer That Almost Wasn't
But Rudolph's crises were only beginning. By
working evenings and weekends, I completed the
lengthy poem. Then came another shock. I was
told that my story would be passed upon by a
"round table of ordinary people" clerks, sec
retaries, and others, all of whom worked for the
man who had called the meeting. Knowing nei
ther the writing field nor their boss' opinion of
the story, they could be expected to protect them
selves by being cautious and critical of the ef
fort. And they were!
After hearing the story, they expressed strong
reservations. Even the idea of a red nose was
questioned as having connotations of alcoholism.
With each shaft of criticism, my morale sank
lower. It looked as if Rudolph might die right
there. Then Carl Hacker, the company's display
manager spoke up. "I think that every line that
Bob May wrote is beautiful just perfect," he
said. "I think it would be a crime for any of us
to change one word of it!"
Suddenly the whole atmosphere of the meeting
changed. MacDonald, who was to make the final
decision, agreed that the story should stand with
only minor revisions and Rudolph was saved
again! For Christmas in 1939, 2.4 million copies
of the story, cleverly illustrated by Denver Gil
len, were distributed free in booklet form in com
pany stores throughout the country. Rudolph's
spectacular ride had begun.
World War II caused Rudolph to go into hiber
nation. But during the 1946 holiday season, the
-le-rerndeer-rode -again: 8.6-milliomropies tf
the booklet were produced and distributed free.
Then other extraordinary things began to
happen. A large record firm asked my permission
to make a "story" record about Rudolph. The
copyright, however, was owned by my company,
and corporations customarily forbid the trans
fer of company-owned rights. But champions of
Rudolph within the firm went to work, the copy
right was awarded to me and the story record
became a reality.
Like most authors, I also dreamed of my story
appearing in a hard-cover "bookstore edition."
Because six million paperback copies already had
been given away free, no major publisher was
interested. But Harry Elbaum, owner of a small
New York firm, Maxton Publishing Co., had been
attracted to the story and asked my permission
to publish it in hard-cover form.
"All my life I've been kidded about my own
nose," he explained, "so Rudolph won my sym
pathy from the start."
I granted him publication rights and Ru
dolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer became a record
breaking best seller.
Johnny Marks, composer of such hit songs as
"Everyone's a Child at Christmas" and "I Heard
the Bells on Christmas Day," read the story
while in the Army during World War II. He
noted the title in his idea book and in 1949
wrote his now-famous song.
Several vocalists turned down chances to re
cord it. But Gene Autry liked the song, recorded
it for Columbia Records and his version rock
eted to the top of the hit parade.
Complimentary letters began to pour in from
parents, teachers, and clergymen. All expressed
appreciation for the story's moral values: kind
ness, -patience, perseverance, -tolerance, -respect
for the underdog.
One writer told how a girl, after heaving the
song, resolved never to behave like a reindeer
named Olive. Asked to explain, she replied, "I
mean, like what she did to Rudolph. You know,
'Olive the other reindeer used to laugh and call
him names.' "
A boy in Indianapolis was said to have in
sisted that nearby Camp Atterbury had been
named in Rudolph's honor. Explained the boy:
"It's right there in the song, 'Rudolph, the Red
Nosed Reindeer, Atterbury shiny nose.' "
Rudolph Leads a Charmed Life
There were other stories, too, such as the one
about the hunter who shot a deer, tied it across
his auto hood, and parked the car while he ate
dinner. When he returned, he found that some
prankster had painted the deer's nose red and
a crowd of angry children had gathered. "It's
Rudolph!" shouted one. "You've killed him!" The
hunter was reported to have escaped amid a
bombardment of snowballs.
The children need not have worried, though.
Rudolph seems to live a charmed life. Each
Christmas, as my wife, my six children, and I
join in placing a lighted, life-size figure of Ru
dolph on the lawn of our comfortable home
which we refer to as "The House That Rudolph
Emit,"- ve reflect on this anew. To me, every
thing connected with little Rudolph has the touch
of a miracle about it.
4L .
Family Weekly. December II, I8B.1
Family Wee kly. Deeember 12, 1961