Johnny Marks, writer of the Christmas song “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer,” on December 05, 1977. Marks would later go on to publish 175 original songs, including television scores, radio hits and commercial jingles. By then, Marks was already a professional composer who had been writing songs since his teenage years. He persuaded his brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, to write music to accompany the story. Knowing how popular the book had been, May sensed an opportunity to turn his luck around. After World War II, Montgomery Ward unexpectedly granted him the rights to Rudolph. Saddled with medical debt, he continued working at Montgomery Ward and eventually remarried. The company gave away more than two million copies that season.ĭespite this success, May struggled with life as a single father. Montgomery Ward transformed the poem into a 32-page booklet distributed to children for free-a meaningful gesture in a country still shaken by the Great Depression. In August, May filed a story told in 89 couplets. “Gratefully I buried myself in the writing,” he wrote at the time. But he found solace in the story, drawing inspiration from his young daughter’s fondness for reindeer at the Lincoln Park Zoo. When she died in July 1939, May was given the option to give up the assignment. May’s wife had been diagnosed with cancer, and as the year wore on, her health deteriorated. May agreed to tackle the assignment, despite difficulties in his personal life. The department store began preparing for Christmas 1939 nearly a year in advance, and tasked May with penning an original holiday story they could market to shoppers. Rudolph’s story began with a Jewish Montgomery Ward copywriter named Robert May. Before Rudolph lit up the small screen, a series of tragedies, twists of fortune and lucky coincidences allowed his tale to endure through decades-eventually ensuring a place in holiday tradition. But each played an important role in the making of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, a classic Christmas special currently celebrating its 57th straight year of annual reruns. Reindeer and dentists, puppets and LED light bulbs, Gene Autry and General Electric-these odd pairings might not seem to have much in common.
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