The Birth of the Red Nosed Reindeer

The creation of Rudolph, unlike his legendary counterparts, didn't happen hundreds of years ago. In fact, the ninth reindeer wasn't introduced until 1939 by a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store named, Robert L. May. Using a similar rhyme pattern to that of "Twas a Night Before Christmas," May generated a story about a red-nosed reindeer who was teased by all the other reindeer because his red-nosed glowed. Once the story was released it sold over two million copies and was reissued in 1946. The song, that accompanies the story, was written by May's friend, Johnny Marks, and was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949. Since its inception, the story has been translated into 25 languages and in 1964 a classic animated Christmas movie.