Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

One of the most popular songs and holiday television specials associated with childhood is the perineal classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This song about a lovable reindeer, once ostracized for his red nose, worked its way into the hearts of millions.  However, Rudolph did not get his start in a song or a Christmas special; he debuted in a book.

In 1939 creator Robert May was assigned to Chicago based department store Montgomery Ward. The shop, which previously bought and handed out coloring books, decided to create their book in order  to save money.  The story idea of Rudolph, initially rejected by the management due to the significance of a red nose being associated with alcoholism, needed the help of illustrator Denver Gillen to prove its innocence. Gillen, using zoo deer as models to draw the cute characters to the story. The management supported the idea after seeing his illustrations.  In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward distributed 2.5 million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Since its first publication, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer produced two sequels, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again in 1954 and Rudolph's Second Christmas in 1991. It also became a cartoon movie in 1944, a song in 1949 written by May's brother in law Johnny Marks and made famous by Gene Autry.  In 1964, the production company Rankin/Bass produced the well known stop-motion Christmas special.