Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Was Created in Chicago by Montgomery Ward Copywriter Robert L. May to Sell Toys in 1939. Here’s How the Popular Christmas Character — and Its Author — Went Down in History.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in Chicago by Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May to sell toys in 1939. Here’s how the popular Christmas character — and its author — went down in history.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was conceived for a purely Scrooge-like reason — to make money. Thankfully, its creator saw the Montgomery Ward marketing campaign as an opportunity to be as bold in his writing as the fantastical flying stag with a blindingly bright beak he invented was when called upon to pull Santa Claus’ sleigh through fog. More than 80 years after its inception, here’s how Rudolph — a completely Chicago concoction — became a C…

The Origins of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen… but do you know the real story of Rudolph? The story of Rudolph the Red‑Nosed Reindeer began in 1939 when Robert L. May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago, was given an unusual holiday assignment: create a Christmas story to give away to customers as a promotional booklet. The idea was that creating their own booklet would save the company money over buying and dist…