It’s time to forÂget nearÂly everyÂthing you know about Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReinÂdeer…at least as estabÂlished by the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop motion aniÂmatÂed teleÂviÂsion speÂcial.
You can hang onto the source of Rudolph’s shame and evenÂtuÂal triÂumph — the glowÂing red nose that got him bounced from his playÂmates’ reinÂdeer games before savÂing ChristÂmas.
Lose all those othÂer now-iconÂic eleÂments — the Island of MisÂfit Toys, long-lashed love interÂest Clarice, the AbomÂinable Snow MonÂster of the North, Yukon CorÂnelius, Sam the SnowÂman, and HerÂmey the aspiÂrant denÂtist elf.
As origÂiÂnalÂly conÂceived, Rudolph (runÂner up names: RolÂlo, RodÂney, Roland, RodÂerÂick and RegiÂnald) wasn’t even a resÂiÂdent of the North Pole.
He lived with a bunch of othÂer reinÂdeer in an unreÂmarkÂable house someÂwhere along SanÂta’s delivÂery route.
SanÂta treatÂed Rudolph’s houseÂhold as if it were a human address, comÂing down the chimÂney with presents while the occuÂpants were asleep in their beds.
To get to Rudolph’s oriÂgin stoÂry we must travÂel back in time to JanÂuÂary 1939, when a MontÂgomery Ward departÂment head was already lookÂing for a nationÂwide holÂiÂday proÂmoÂtion to draw cusÂtomers to its stores durÂing the DecemÂber holÂiÂdays.
He setÂtled on a book to be proÂduced in house and givÂen away free of charge to any child accomÂpaÂnyÂing their parÂent to the store.
CopyÂwriter Robert L. May was charged with comÂing up with a holÂiÂday narÂraÂtive starÂring an aniÂmal simÂiÂlar to FerÂdiÂnand the Bull.
After givÂing the matÂter some thought, May tapped DenÂver Gillen, a pal in MontÂgomery Ward’s art departÂment, to draw his underÂdog hero, an appealÂing-lookÂing young deer with a red nose big enough to guide a sleigh through thick fog.
(That schnozz is not withÂout conÂtroÂverÂsy. PriÂor to Caitlin FlanaÂgan’s 2020 essay in the Atlantic chafÂing at the teleÂviÂsion speÂcial’s explicÂitÂly cruÂel depicÂtions of othÂerÂing the oddÂball, MontÂgomery Ward fretÂted that cusÂtomers would interÂpret a red nose as drunkÂenÂness. In May’s telling, SanÂta is so uncomÂfortÂable bringÂing up the true nature of the deer’s abnorÂmalÂiÂty, he preÂtends that Rudolph’s “wonÂderÂful foreÂhead” is the necÂesÂsary headÂlamp for his sleigh…)
On the strength of Gillen’s sketchÂes, May was givÂen the go-ahead to write the text.
His rhyming couÂplets weren’t exactÂly the stuff of great children’s litÂerÂaÂture. A samÂpling:
Twas the day before ChristÂmas, and all through the hills,
The reinÂdeer were playÂing, enjoyÂing the spills.
Of skatÂing and coastÂing, and climbÂing the wilÂlows,
And hopÂscotch and leapfrog, proÂtectÂed by pilÂlows.
___
And SanÂta was right (as he usuÂalÂly is)
The fog was as thick as a soda’s white fizz
—-
The room he came down in was blackÂer than ink
He went for a chair and then found it a sink!
No matÂter.
May’s employÂer wasn’t much conÂcerned with the artÂfulÂness of the tale. It was far more interÂestÂed in its potenÂtial as a marÂketÂing tool.
“We believe that an excluÂsive stoÂry like this aggresÂsiveÂly adverÂtised in our newsÂpaÂper ads and circulars…can bring every store an incalÂcuÂlaÂble amount of pubÂlicÂiÂty, and, far more imporÂtant, a tremenÂdous amount of ChristÂmas trafÂfic,” read the announceÂment that the Retail Sales DepartÂment sent to all MontÂgomery Ward retail store manÂagers on SepÂtemÂber 1, 1939.
Over 800 stores optÂed in, orderÂing 2,365,016 copies at 1½¢ per unit.
ProÂmoÂtionÂal posters toutÂed the 32-page freeÂbie as “the rolÂlickingest, rip-roaringest, riot-proÂvokingest, ChristÂmas give-away your town has ever seen!”
The adverÂtisÂing manÂagÂer of Iowa’s ClinÂton HerÂald forÂmalÂly apolÂoÂgized for the paper’s failÂure to covÂer the Rudolph pheÂnomÂeÂnon — its local MontÂgomery Ward branch had optÂed out of the proÂmoÂtion and there was a sense that any stoÂry it ran might indeed creÂate a riot on the sales floor.
His letÂter is just but one piece of Rudolph-relatÂed ephemera preÂserved in a 54-page scrapÂbook that is now part of the Robert Lewis May ColÂlecÂtion at DartÂmouth, May’s alma mater.
AnothÂer page boasts a letÂter from a boy named Robert RosenÂbaum, who wrote to thank MontÂgomery Ward for his copy:
I enjoyed the book very much. My sisÂter could not read it so I read it to her. The man that wrote it done betÂter than I could in all my born days, and that’s nine years.
The magÂic ingreÂdiÂent that transÂformed a marÂketÂing scheme into an everÂgreen if not uniÂverÂsalÂly beloved ChristÂmas traÂdiÂtion is a song …with an unexÂpectÂed side order of corÂpoÂrate genÂerosÂiÂty.
May’s wife died of canÂcer when he was workÂing on Rudolph, leavÂing him a sinÂgle parÂent with a pile of medÂical bills. After MontÂgomery Ward repeatÂed the Rudolph proÂmoÂtion in 1946, disÂtribÂutÂing an addiÂtionÂal 3,600,000 copies, its Board of DirecÂtors votÂed to ease his burÂden by grantÂiÂng him the copyÂright to his creÂation.
Once he held the reins to the “most famous reinÂdeer of all”, May enlistÂed his songÂwriter brothÂer-in-law, JohnÂny Marks, to adapt Rudolph’s stoÂry.
The simÂple lyrics, made famous by singing cowÂboy Gene Autry’s 1949 hit recordÂing, proÂvidÂed May with a revÂenue stream and Rankin/Bass with a skeleÂtal outÂline for its 1964 stop-aniÂmaÂtion speÂcial.
ScreenÂwriter Romeo Muller, the driÂving force behind the Island of MisÂfit Toys, Sam the SnowÂman, Clarice, et al revealed that he would have based his teleÂplay on May’s origÂiÂnal book, had he been able to find a copy.
Read a close-to-final draft of Robert L. May’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed ReinÂdeer, illusÂtratÂed by DenÂver Gillen here.
Bonus conÂtent: Max Fleischer’s aniÂmatÂed Rudolph The Red-Nosed ReinÂdeer from 1948, which preÂserves some of May’s origÂiÂnal text.
RelatÂed ConÂtent
Hear Neil Gaiman Read A ChristÂmas CarÂol Just Like Charles DickÂens Read It
Hear Paul McCartney’s ExperÂiÂmenÂtal ChristÂmas MixÂtape: A Rare & ForÂgotÂten RecordÂing from 1965
– Ayun HalÂlÂiÂday is the Chief PriÂmaÂtolÂoÂgist of the East VilÂlage Inky zine and author, most recentÂly, of CreÂative, Not Famous: The Small PotaÂto ManÂiÂfesto and CreÂative, Not Famous ActivÂiÂty Book. FolÂlow her @AyunHalliday.
