Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comit, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen were later joined by Rudolph in 1939.  It wasn’t a foggy Christmas Eve that brought them together, but an advertising copywriter from Montgomery Ward department store, named Robert May.

     The story goes, that the store was looking for a novelty for the department store Santa to distribute to parents and children.  Denver Gillen, an artist and friend of Robert May made the first drawings of the ‘red-nosed’ reindeer after spending an afternoon at the zoo.

     After considering scores of names for his new creation, May took the advice of his 4-year old daughter and settled on Rudolph.

     In the first year of distribution, 1939, 2.4 million “Rudolph” booklets were handed out in Montgomery Ward stores.  They continued this tradition, albeit sporadically, until 1947 when a another friend of May’s, Johnny Marks, put the poem to music.  After many artists passed on the opportunity, Gene Autry agreed and recorded the song in 1949.  Since his hit release of “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,  more than 300 different recordings have been made, and more than eighty million records sold.  Gene Autry’s rendition is the third best-selling record of all time, falling only to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” at number 2, and Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind ‘97” at number 1.