Who is Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer?
Who is this Rudolf character who guides Santa’s sleigh with the red glowing nose that can penetrate a thick fog?
The whole story of Rudolf appeared, out of nowhere, in 1939. Santas at
Montgomery Ward stores gave away 2.4 million copies of a booklet
entitled "Rudolf the Red-Nose Reindeer." The story was written by a
person in the advertising department named Robert May, and the booklet
was illustrated by Denver Gillen.
The original name of the reindeer was
not Rudolf, according to the book "Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,"
by Charles Panati. The original name was Rollo, but executives did not
like that name, nor Reginald. The name Rudolf came from the author’s
young daughter! In 1949, Gene Autry sang a musical version of the poem
and it was a run-away best-seller. The Rudolf song is second only to
"White Christmas" in popularity.
You can see Rudolf with his red nose and team of reindeer on many Christmas cards every Christmas season
- Who is Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer? The origin of Rudolf
