It's deer season.

No, not that deer season. This is the time of year when reruns of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are on TV and the theme song is played on radio stations and Muzak (TM) around the world.

But do you know the history behind this little tale? No? Well, read on, my friend.

In 1939, the head of the Chicago-based Montgomery Wards department store chain asked one of their copywriters, Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away as a promo gimmick to their customers. Drawing on his own childhood experience of being teased for being small and shy, May created the story of Rudolph for a giveaway coloring book. It became a perennial success for Wards, and a cartoon version of Rudolph (without lyrics) was shown as a movie short in theaters during the holiday season of 1944.

But May, as a Wards employee, received no royalties for his successful story. Besieged by debt following his wife's long battle with cancer, May began to petition Wards for the rights to his story. In 1947, he finally convinced the company to turn over the copyright to him. For the first time, the story was commercially printed.

The story became even more popular when May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, set his poem to music. It was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949 and sold two million copies that year. The little song went on to become one of the best-selling Christmas songs of all times -- second only to White Christmas.

The movie version we know and love was first aired on NBC on December 6, 1964. It was recorded in stop-motion animation by Rankin Bass. The movie featured several new characters including Hermey the Misfit Elf, Yukon Cornelius, and lovable Bumble (aka the Abominable Snow Monster of the North).


Folk singer Burl Ives narrated the story and sang a little song called "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Not surprisingly, the song became one of his best known offerings.

Now that you've had your bit of holiday trivia for the day, don't you feel smarter?





Have a holly jolly Sunday,
Stephanie