Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Out of all of Santa’s reindeer, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” who was also known as Rollo the Red-Nosed Reindeer and then Reginald the Red-Nosed Reindeer is, by far, the most famous and most often talked about. As a matter of fact, he is the only one that is distinguished out of the entire herd and called forth to stardom and fame.

It all started with a Christmas song which made its début as a poem that was distributed by a posing Santa Claus at a Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was penned by Robert May who was an advertising copywriter for Montgomery Ward in 1939. The poem was printed in a booklet form and was colorfully illustrated by Denver Gillen, an artist and a close friend to Robert May. The original name of the reindeer was Rollo, but management of the Montgomery Ward department store had it first changed to Reginald and then they settled on Rudolph. Nearly 2.5 million copies of the “Rudolph” booklet were distributed by Santa Clauses hired by Montgomery Ward department stores all around the United States in 1939 and those same booklets were reprint annually for distribution to children and their parents for eight more years.

The story of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” talks about Santa Claus’s ninth and leading reindeer that has an unusually red nose that illuminates the skies for all the other reindeer.

In 1947, Johnny Marks, a friend of Robert May, composed music for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” but all the professional singers he approached refused to sing it. In 1949, however, Gene Autry agreed to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the recording skyrocketed to the top of the Hit Parade charts. Since Autry’s first recording in 1949, three hundred more recordings have been made and eighty million records have been sold. Gene Autry’s original recording was second only to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” as best selling records of all times.

“Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” is an international star of television specials, stop motion animation and feature movies as well as a household name. Rudolph is also a celebrity in children’s books and comics, and he is spoken and sung about all around the world and in countless languages. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is what sociologists of our time call the only addition to the folkloric Santa Claus of the twentieth and twenty first centuries.

The following are the lyrics of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as they had been written by Robert May. Please feel free to sing them along with me:

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer 
had a very shiny nose. 
And if you ever saw him, 
you would even say it glows.

All of the other reindeer 
used to laugh and call him names. 
They never let poor Rudolph 
join in any reindeer games. 

Then one foggy Christmas Eve 
Santa came to say: 
"Rudolph with your nose so bright, 
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?" 

Then all the reindeer loved him 
as they shouted out with glee, 
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, 
you'll go down in history! 

As it is true of many of the better children’s stories, the story about “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has a moral innuendo to it. Because Rudolph was so different from all the other reindeer, he was ridiculed, isolated and discriminated against. However, it was exactly that difference; his unique, shiny red nose that ultimately became so useful to the others that Rudolph gained their affection. Moral of the story: Being different has its value in society and diversity is to be honored and respected.