Rudolph Settles in Hanover

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer rides again, and this time it's right on to the Hanover Plain, as the original manuscripts about him have been presented to Baker Library by his creator, Robert L. May '26. The story of the wistful-faced little reindeer with the flashing red nose was written by May in 1939 as a Christmas giveaway sheet for Montgomery Ward Co., and in the first year of publication Ward's distributed more than two million copies through its retail stores. The tale soon caught the imagination of children and adults throughout the country and in 1946 Ward's published more than three-and-a-half million copies, changing only the little plane which Santa barely missed in 1939 into a big four-engined airliner. Illustrated by Denver Gillen, the storybook about the little reindeer whose bright red nose lighted the way for Santa on his Christmas rounds became a popular sensation.

In 1947 May was awarded Rudolph's copyright by Montgomery Ward and a few years later he resigned as retail copy director of the company to manage Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Enterprises Inc. Soon more than fifty products from stuffed toys to radios and rubber boots bearing Rudolph's name and trademark were selling throughout the country. Enthusiasm for Rudolph spread to Europe where the book appeared in English, French and Danish editions.

Johnny Marks, in 1949, wrote music and lyrics based on the story and the song became a staple of the Christmas season along with the traditional carols and "White Christmas." Various singers ineluding Gene Autry recorded it and in 1950 more than two million recordings were sold. A technicolor short made in Hollywood and directed by Max Fleischer ran in theatres throughout the country.

By 1950 the Rudolph story had entered the sociological realm. Life Magazine in its January 9, 1950 issue carried an editorial based upon Rudolph which drew attention to the folly of discrimination against people who were different from others. The University of Connecticut's Professor James H. Barnett even included him in a study on Christmas in American Culture, in which he called the tale "the only original addition to the folklore of Santa Claus in this century."