Did you know that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer wasn’t a character in Clement Moore’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas? And that he didn’t even exist until 1939?? WHHHATTT!!! REALLY??
YES!! And here are a few facts you probably don’t know about Santa’s red-nosed right hand man
1. Rudolph was created for Montgomery Ward. In 1939, execs for the Montgomery Ward department store decided they needed a character for the freebie coloring books they were handing out to kids who visited Santa. That character ended up being Rudolph.
2. The writer who invented the character was going through a rough time. Robert May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward’s mail order catalog division, started this story shortly after his wife died from cancer.
3. He could have been Rollo or Reginald instead of Rudolph. Rollo was rejected for sounding too sunny and happy, while Reginald sounded too British. Romeo and Rodney were also in the running…wow!!
4. Rudolph almost used a different method to guide Santa’s sleigh. Instead of having a red, glowing nose, May considered giving Rudolph large, headlight-like eyes that would light the way.
5. Interestingly enough the Rudolph song was recorded a decade after the character was invented.