Who's Rudolph?

"Who's Rudolph?" was a question my three youngest sons, Solomon, Elijah and Ezra had one year, as we were out Christmas Caroling in the beginning years of our 15-years of Christmas Caroling Adventures. You can read our story concerning 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' in "The Lavine Boys Christmas Caroling Adventures Book 1: The Early Years".

When I came across this article about the origination of the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I found it very interesting, and wanted to share it with you.

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"As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn't feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old daughter, Barbara.

One night, Barbara asked her father, "Why isn't my mommy like everybody else's mommy?" As he struggled to answer his daughter's question, Bob remembered the pain of his own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. But he wanted to give hope, and show her that being different was nothing to be ashamed of. More than that, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always take care of her. So he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa's team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he couldn't afford to buy his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.

In early December, Bob's wife died. Though he was heartbroken, he kept working on the book for his daughter. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company party at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he'd written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own. Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the books from their debt-ridden employee. Over the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' to shoppers. Every major publishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head f the department store returned all rights to Bob May. Four years later, Rudolph had made him a millionaire.

Now remarried with a growing family, May felt blessed by his good fortune. But there was more to come. His brother-in-law, a successful songwriter named Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with "Here Comes Santa Claus" a few years before. Like the others, Autry wasn't impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife, Ina. She was so touched by the line "They wouldn't let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games" that she insisted her husband record the tune.

Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind "White Christmas." Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, coloring books, greeting cards and even a Ringling Bros. circus act. The little red-nosed reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and immortalized in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolize Christmas as much as Santa Claus, evergreen trees and presents. As the last line of the song says, "He'll go down in history."

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I found the 'story behind the story' very heartwarming. Here was a man who had been dealing with his wife's sickness for two years, then her death (close to Christmas to boot), financially broke, and with a little girl to care and comfort through it all.

I can relate with losing someone dear to the heart in the month of December, as December was also the month our Lydia Grace unexpectedly died at 8 months of age. Makes for a very rough Christmas Season, to say the least.

I love the fact that Bob May made his daughter "a homemade picture book". Our homemade gifts we made over those 15-years for our Christmas Caroling recipients, meant more to us, and many of them, than anything store bought. Was Bob's first book as fancy as the published versions, or as cool as the animated specials? Were our homemade gifts fancy or expensive? Maybe not... but I can guantee to his little girl, to us and our caroling recipients, they were possibly some of the best gifts given... because they were made and given in love.

If you're not familiar with our stories of 15-years of Christmas Caroling Adventures, "The Lavine Boys' Christmas Caroling Adventures" 3-book series, then grab the books, ebooks or Audible on Amazon. If you have a group of potential Christmas Carolers, or know of one, then check out our Christmas Caroling Kits to get your 'Little Christmas Caroling Gig' started this Christmas Season!