Today is the 59th anniversary of the original broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,
Rudolph was born 84 years ago this Christmas season, at the Montgomery Ward department store headquarters in Chicago. He was the star of a humble coloring book, written by a copywriter, Robert May, who almost named the protagonist “Reginald.” May, who’d been lonely as a child, based the character on himself. Store executives fretted that shoppers might think Rudolph’s nose was red because he was drunk, but something about Rudolph’s story spoke to people. He was an outcast, down on his luck. When Santa gave him a job (it was the Great Depression, after all)—well, something clicked.
That Christmas, the company passed out two and a half million copies of the book
Original Rankin/Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer end credits (in black and white)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1944) –
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Gene Autry –
MAD TV Rudolph Trilogy
various commercials feature Rudolph and his friends –
Rudolph (You Don’t Have To Put On The Red Light)
Demand Euphoria!
The Haus of Dcaligari 