Most people in the West are familiar with the
tale of Rudolph, the leader of Santa Claus' flying reindeer team. But where
does this legend come from?
There's no denying it: the idea of Santa Claus
flying through the skies on giant sleigh is intriguing, a story that will probably
stick with us for many centuries to come. But it may surprise you to know the
origins of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. We have the Victorians to thank for
the reinvention of many (previously quite chilling) fairy tales and many of
the traditions we associate with Christmas today. Yet Rudolph is a comparitively
new tradition, created by, strangely enough, a U.S. store to cut its costs at
Christmas.
Chicago, 1939. Montgomery Ward, a company
running a group of department stores, was accustomed to purchasing coloring
books for children visiting their shops during the Christmas period. This was
an expensive promotional technique, and the company wanted to cut down on this
cost, deciding to commission its own booklet to give away. Robert L. May, an
employee of Montgomery Ward for 3 years, was given the task of designing the
booklet. He created Rudolph, a reindeer with a red, shiney nose, in verse, trying
it out on his 4 year old daughter to see how successful the legend would be,
but he had to convince more people than his daughter - May's boss, was worried
that the idea of a red nose would remind customers of drunkeds. He took his
artist colleague, Denver Gillen, to Lincoln Park Zoo to draw some reindeer,
red-nose and all, and the drawings proved to be enough to overcome Montgomery
Ward's hesistancies. That year, 2.4 million copied of May's creation were produced
and given to children, bringing to life the urban legend that is Rudolph the
red-nosed reindeer.
Let's not forget Donner and Blitzen
The idea of reindeer taking Santa Claus came
long before Montgomery Ward tried to cut costs. An 1823 poem A Visit from
Saint Nicholas, depicted Santa being helped on his way by the animals, and
Robert L. May's brother-in-law wrote the words to the hit song Rudolph The Red-Nosed
Reindeer which would popularize the story all over the world.
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