Is This the Origin Story of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'? (2024)

Fact Check

Was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer created to bring comfort to a girl whose mother was dying of cancer?

David Mikkelson

Published Dec. 16, 2013

Is This the Origin Story of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'? (1)

Image courtesy of Flickr - Ashley Coombs

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Claim:

The character 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' was created by a father to bring comfort to his daughter as her mother was dying of cancer.

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What's True

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by a man whose wife was dying of cancer.

What's False

The story of Rudolph was not created to bring comfort to a girl as her mother lay dying of cancer.

To most of us, the character of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, immortalized in song and a popular holiday television special, has always been an essential part of our Christmas folklore. But Rudolph is in fact a mid-twentieth century invention whose creation can be traced to a specific time and person -- often described as follows in online posts:

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one — a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn't end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

However, the glurgified account of that event reproduced above, while essentially correct in its broad strokes, erroneously inverts a key aspect of the process: The story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was not developed by a man who was seeking to bring comfort to his daughter as her mother lay dying of cancer and who subsequently sold his creation to a department store chain. Instead, the Rudolph character and story was developed for commercial purposes by a Montgomery Ward copywriter at the specific request of his employer, and that copywriter then tested the story out on his own daughter during the development process to ensure it would appeal to children.

Rudolph came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story they could give away in booklet form to shoppers as a promotional gimmick — the Montgomery Ward stores had been buying and distributing coloring books to customers at Christmastime every year, and May's department head saw creating a giveaway booklet of their own as a way to save money. Robert May, who had a penchant for writing children's stories and limericks, was tapped to create the booklet.

May, drawing in part on the tale of The Ugly Duckling and his own background (he was often taunted as a child for being shy, small, and slight), settled on the idea of an underdog ostracized by the reindeer community because of his physical abnormality: a glowing red nose. Looking for an alliterative name, May considered and rejected Rollo (too cheerful and carefree a name for the story of a misfit) and Reginald (too British) before deciding on Rudolph. He then proceeded to write Rudolph's story in verse as a series of rhyming couplets, testing it out on his 4-year-old daughter, Barbara, as he went along. Although Barbara was thrilled with Rudolph's story, May's boss was worried that a story featuring a red nose — an image associated with drinking and drunkards — was unsuitable for a Christmas tale. May responded by taking Denver Gillen, a friend from Montgomery Ward's art department, to the Lincoln Park Zoo to sketch some deer. Gillen's illustrations of a red-nosed reindeer overcame the hesitancy of May's superiors, and the Rudolph story was approved. Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of the Rudolph booklet in 1939, and although wartime paper shortages curtailed printing for the next several years, a total of 6 million copies had been distributed by the end of 1946.

The post-war demand for licensing the Rudolph character was tremendous, but since May had created the story on a "work made for hire" basis as an employee of Montgomery Ward, that company held the copyright to Rudolph, and May received no royalties for his creation. Deeply in debt from the medical bills resulting from his wife's terminal illness (she died about the time May created Rudolph), May persuaded Montgomery Ward's corporate president, Sewell Avery, to turn the copyright over to him in January 1947, and with the rights to his creation in hand, May's financial security was assured. (Unlike Santa Claus and other familiar Christmas figures of the time, the Rudolph character was a protected trademark that required licensing and the payment of royalties for commercial use.)

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was reprinted commercially beginning in 1947 and shown in theaters as a nine-minute cartoon the following year, but the Rudolph phenomenon really took off when May's brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, developed the lyrics and melody for a Rudolph song. Marks' musical version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (turned down by many in the music industry who didn't want to meddle with the established Santa legend) was recorded by cowboy crooner Gene Autry in 1949, sold two million copies that year, and went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time (second only to "White Christmas"). A stop-action television special about Rudolph produced by Rankin/Bass and narrated by Burl Ives was first aired in 1964 and remains a popular perennial holiday favorite in the U.S.

May quit his copywriting job in 1951 and spent seven years managing the Rudolph franchise his creation had spawned before returning to Montgomery Ward, where he worked until his retirement in 1971. May died in 1976, comfortable in the life his reindeer creation had provided for him.

The story of Rudolph is primarily known to us through the lyrics of Johnny Marks' song (which provides only the barest outlines of Rudolph's story) and the 1964 television special. The story Robert May wrote is substantially different from both of them in a number of ways.

Rudolph was neither one of Santa's reindeer nor the offspring of one of Santa's reindeer, and he did not live at the North Pole. Rudolph dwelled in an "ordinary" reindeer village elsewhere, and although he was taunted and laughed at for having a shiny red nose, he was not regarded by his parents as a shameful embarrassment; Rudolph was brought up in a loving household and was a responsible reindeer with a good self-image and sense of worth. Moreover, Rudolph also did not rise to fame when Santa picked him out from a reindeer herd because of his shiny nose; instead, Santa discovered the red-nosed reindeer quite by accident, when he noticed the glow emanating from Rudolph's room while he was delivering presents to Rudolph's house. Worried that the thickening fog that night (already the cause of several accidents and delays) would keep him from completing his Christmas Eve rounds, Santa tapped Rudolph to lead his team, which the young reindeer agreed to do, after first stopping to complete one last task: leaving behind a note for his mother and father.

As Ronald Lankford noted in his cultural history of American Christmas songs, Rudolph's story was a classic reflection of American values during the 1940s and beyond:

Much like the modern Santa Claus song, Rudolph's story is for children; more specifically, it is a children's story about overcoming adversity and earning, by personal effort, respect in the adult world. As a young deer (child) with a handicap that turns out to be an unrecognized asset, Rudolph comes to the rescue of an adult (Santa) at the last minute (on Christmas Eve). When Rudolph saves the day, he gains respect from both his peers (the reindeer who refused to include him in games) and the adult world. The story of Rudolph, then, is the fantasy story made to order for American children: each child has the need to express and receive approval for his or her individuality and/or special qualities. Rudolph's story embodies the American Dream for the child, written large because of the cultural significance of Christmas.

Sources

Archibald, John J. "Rudolph's Tale Left Him Cold."St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 6 December 1989 (p. E3).

Flynn, Tom. The Trouble with Christmas.Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993. ISBN 0-87975-848-1 (pp. 122-123).

Frankel, Stanley A. "The Story Behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."Good Housekeeping. December 1989 (p. 126).

Lankford, Ronald D. Sleigh Rides, Jingle Bells, & Silent Nights.Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2013. ISBN 978-0-8130-4492-7 (pp. 85-88)

Lillard, Margaret. "Rudolph Lit Up Creator's Career."Los Angeles Times. 17 December 1989 (p. A7).

"How an Advertising Copywriter Helped Rudolph Become 'The Most Famous Reindeer of All.'"Morrison, Gary W. The Grand Rapids Press. 15 December 1998 (p. C1).

Lollar, Kevin. "Reginald the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"Gannett News Service. 21 December 1989.

Murphy, Cullen. "Rudolph Redux."The Atlantic. August 1990 (p. 18).

Ogintz, Eileen. "The Man Who Created Rudolph ..."Chicago Tribune. 13 December 1990 (Tempo; p. 1).

The Palm Beach Post. "Rudolph's Rise to Fame Was Long, Arduous"25 December 1999 (p. A21).

The Time-Life Book of Christmas.New York: Prentice Hall, 1987. ISBN 0-13-133679-7 (p. 101).

By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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Is This the Origin Story of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'? (2024)

FAQs

Is This the Origin Story of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'? ›

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in 1939 when Montgomery Ward

Montgomery Ward
was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The current Montgomery Ward Inc. is a national online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer that started several years after the original Montgomery Ward shut down.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Montgomery_Ward
department store asked one of its copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to create a Christmas story the store could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick.

What is the origin of the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? ›

Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939 as an assignment for Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money.

What does the Rudolph symbolize? ›

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is rife with symbolism and mythology, Rudolph is the revolutionary figurehead, bringer of a new, better Christmas Town order- and also clearly Jesus. He literally ascends to the heavens for the children, and is emotionally crucified.

Is Rudolph one of Santa's original reindeer True or false? ›

Santa originally had 8 reindeer and it was until 1939 that Rudolph came into the scene to make 9. But through the years, lyrical confusion sparked a 10th name to Santa's herd. Olive, 'The Other Reindeer', has been taken from a misunderstanding on the lyrics of the 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' song.

Why did Robert May write Rudolph? ›

The beginning of Rudolph. Early in 1939, May's boss at Montgomery Ward asked him to write a "cheery children's book" for Christmas shoppers, suggesting "it should be an animal story, with a character like Ferdinand the Bull", which was then recently released as a short film by Walt Disney.

Where did the red nose reindeer come from? ›

Their study, published yesterday in the online medical journal BMJ, indicates that the color is due to an extremely dense array of blood vessels, packed into the nose in order to supply blood and regulate body temperature in extreme environments.

Was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer originally in black and white? ›

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - original print recreation (Black and White) In honor of Rudolph's 55th Anniversary, here is the original recreated print of the special in black and white with original credits in black and white with no color.

What does Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer teach us? ›

There are many life lessons Rudolph and his friends teach us. Even though released in 1964, the messages are the same today. Don't hide who you are; your difference can be your strength. From the moment Rudolph was born, he and his parents tried to hide the fact he had a red nose.

Why was Rudolph called Rudolph? ›

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as a character in a booklet written for the Montgomery Ward department store. The name "Rudolph" is a variation of the German name "Rudolf," which means "famous wolf." His name was originally going to be Rollo or Reginald, but Robert L.

What is the message of Rudolph? ›

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer represents how in the past, people with dysfunctions had been exploited for others' gains. This story suggests that if people with dysfunctions don't exploit themselves to others, they are sitting about and being useless and lazy.

Why is Rudolph not a reindeer? ›

Because Rudolph is a character invented for the book series starting with “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”, he's not a traditional reindeer character. Also the rights to Rudolph belong to the estate of the person who wrote that book, so films would have to pay royalties to them if they used him.

Who was Santa's original reindeer? ›

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen!...but there's more to the story. *Santa's original 8 reindeer were first introduced in 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', more commonly know as 'The Night Before Christmas' in 1823.

Who originally sang Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer? ›

The song was first introduced live on New York Radio (WOR) by crooner Harry Brannon in November 1949. Gene Autry recorded the song on June 27, 1949, and it was released as a children's record by Columbia Records in September 1949. By November, Columbia had begun pushing the record to the pop music market. It hit No.

What is the real story behind Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? ›

He was the creation of Robert L. May, an advertising copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department stores, and the brother-in-law of composer Johnny Marks. Supposedly during a quiet lunch hour, May dreamed up Rudolph for a Christmas pamphlet as a promotional gimmick for Wards.

Who turned down Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer? ›

Since Rudolph was a responsible reindeer, he readily agreed. Many well-established singers, including Autry, turned down the opportunity to record the musical version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Finally, Autry -- at the urging of his wife Ina -- agreed. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Who are the eight reindeer? ›

The legendary names are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and (drum roll) Rudolph. Donner is variously spelled Dunder and Donder, and Blitzen is also spelled Blixen and Blixem.

Where did the reindeer myth come from? ›

Modern stories of flying reindeer may have evolved from the ancient Norse legend of Thor. Thor was the god of thunder, who flew through the sky in a chariot pulled by two magical goats. Linked to the northern part of the world, reindeer were once viewed as mysterious creatures, symbolic of good fortune and joy.

Where did the story of Santa's reindeer originate? ›

The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas (also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.

What is the science behind Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? ›

Reindeer Really Do Have Red Noses

And for good reason, according to a December 2012 study in the journal The BMJ. Their red-hued sniffers are caused by densely packed blood vessels that help regulate their body temperatures in harsh conditions.

What is the history of the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? ›

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a song by songwriter Johnny Marks based on the 1939 story Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer published by the Montgomery Ward Company. Gene Autry's recording hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 1949. May 9, 1949 by St.

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