On December 3rd, 1949, the song "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" by Gene Autry made the pop charts. And on December 3rd, 1964 the animated version narrated by Burl Ives was first shown on television.
In 1938, Robert May began a bedtime story for his four year old daughter, Barbara, to comfort her as her Mother was dying of cancer. Because of his own childhood experiences of being ridiculed for his small stature, he wanted to show Rudolph's value even though he was different from the other reindeer. Mr. May was working for Montgomery Ward at the time, and in 1939 the company distributed 2.4 million copies of the booklet to children.
Because Mr. May worked for Montgomery Ward when he wrote the story, they held the copyright and he received no royalties. In 1947, he convinced Montgomery Ward's corporate president, Sewell Avery, to turn the copyright over to him. The story was published commercially in 1947 and in 1948 was shown as a nine minute cartoon in theaters.
In 1949, May convinced his brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, into developing lyrics and writing a melody for the story. Gene Autry recorded the song and it sold two million copies in 1949 and went on to become one of the best-selling songs of all time. The television special narrated by Burl Ives was first shown in 1964 and remains a holiday favorite.
More neat RUDOLPH information:
http://www.lilesnet.com/trivia/rudolph_the_red.htm
Dec.2nd
Dec.4th
