Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Wednesday!

Tonight, CBS television will re-broadcast a television classic. Rankin-Bass' 1964 production of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will air for the 46th consecutive year.

As cheesy as Rankin-Bass productions eventually got, "Rudolph" is actually really good. An elf that wants to be a dentist instead of make toys? Pretty sophisticated stuff. And who doesn't have a spot in their heart for misfit toys? PLUS there's a singing snowman that looks like ME!

But, you know, this wasn't the first incarnation of "Rudolph", though there are 2 generations of folks who know this version best.

Rudolph was actually originally created as a cost saving measure for Montgomery Ward department stores in the depression years.

For years, Montgomery (or Monkey Wards, as we called it) Ward gave away children's coloring books every year at Christmas as a promotion, to get families in the door. In 1939, to save on costs, they had an employee in their in-house advertising department, Robert L. May write an original story to be handed out to shoppers.

At first executives didn't care for the story, citing such objections as "'Rudolph's' red-nose denotes drunkenness connotations and isn't suitable to a family audience.".

I always like stories of people with business training trying to get into a creative field and being shown what idiots they are.

May got fellow advertising department co-worker Denver Gillen, to illustrate the story, and it was approved. Monkey Wards handed the little color comic out that Christmas.

They handed out 2.4 million copies.

Rudolph went down in history.

Here's that original story done in 1939 and millions more over the next several years. I'm sorry I don't have the inside front and back covers or the back cover, the inside back was apparently the last line of the story (it abruptly ends at the last page with a comma) but I'm sure you'll enjoy it anyway, knowing it all comes out OK.

Here's an article from "Family Weekly" from December 1963, containing an interview with Robert L. May himself about creating the little reindeer that could. If you save this to your computer, you can actually enlarge the jpeg enough to read it.
More Rudolph next Wednesday. See you then!

Christmas Decorating: A Photo-play

It's that time again. Time to make the home into a 911 call waiting to happen. Tangled trip-hazard wires underfoot, and lots and lots of kindling for electrical fires! Time to decorate the home for Christmas.

Frank and Kelli come by to help...

..it goes a little rough at first.

(The next four lines rhyme...sweet)

Start with the small stuff...brown jelly belly poopin' Christmas animals...

A Sam the Snowman that looks like me...

Coca-Cola bobble-head Santa...

And a decoration I've had since I was 3.

I told you it was sweet.

The bull-head gets a Christmas face-lift...

Jeff hangs the final touch...

...on Charlie Brown's tree.

Kelli enlists Mike's help...

...oooooooooooooooo scary!

...Awwwwww, it's NOT scary. It's the comforting gaze of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. We DO have to keep religion in the holiday, you know! It's not a secular holiday!

The glory of a plastic tree!

All aglow!

With a smiling "Jack" at the top.

A disinterested Mike ignoring the transformed Route 66 tapestry behind him. If you look closely you can see a wrapped present in "Bob the Big Boy's" hand, reindeer antler and red nose on "The Big Blue Wale" and a Santa hat on the "Arizona Dino".

Oooooooooo electrified!

A choir of elves above Christmas palm trees.

By day a tangle of hanging wires and bric-a-brac.

By night a colorful testament to the Pagan's Winter Solstice Yule!

Preeeeeeeeetty!

Mike with visions of sugar plums and Guinness dancing in his head after a long night of decorating.

And to all a good night!