The true story of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"
 

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night.

His 4-year-old daughter, Barbara, sat on his lap quietlysobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home.

Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?"

Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief but also of anger.

It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember.

From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression.

Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived.

Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums.

Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one — a storybook!

Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.

Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was.

The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.

But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores.

By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May.

The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.

But the story doesn't end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph.

Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry.

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

I never knew the origination of "Rudolph". Beautiful story--thanks for sharing it with us . The season is the reason....

Wonderful story, thank you!!!

Aw, nice!!! yesterday I saw a car with a red nose on the grill and antlers on the front windows , very cute.

I thanks for sharing. That is a wonderful story - very heartwarming. Merry Christmas.

Some truth to that story & some not quite so true according to snopes.com http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/rudolph.asp

thanks for sharing the story, very enlightening

A good reminder that gifts from the heart that don't always cost a lot are more precious than the fine gifts bought in a store.

I never knew all that. Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks for sharing!

As for Snopes, I've caught them in quite a few lies, in the past several years. I no longer trust anything they print.

I do know Rudolph's name was originally "Rollo".

Cool story!

Thanks for sharing, very nice heartwarming story

Not exactly. Check out snopes - http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/rudolph.asp

Very interesting and touching! Thank you for sharing!

Sorry and not meaning to attack you timblebug6000, but I agree with Nessie, I have a couple of friends that I emailed on a regular basis, but finally tired of everything that I emailed being checked out on Snopes. I would always receive a reply about what was on Snopes and that I needed to always check with Snopes to be sure I was correct. I no longer email these folks, due to being constantly reminded that I needed to check with Snopes. One individual who is a local in my area, not only did this to me with her emails, but to another friend, needless to say neither of us email this person anymore.Not saying that everything is always correct, but sometimes these so called "Experts" are not always correct.
I have heard the part of the story about May, but not all of it. I did know that Gene Autry made the song a big hit when I was a small child- now am I telling my age or what. lol.
Wishing everyone a Blessed and Merry CHRISTmas, and yes we need to remember the reason for celebrating this beautiful Day.

I did enjoy the story of Rudolph and will pass your version on to others. Merry Christmas

Gerbie and Nessie, it's good we all have our own experiences with Snopes, as I'm sure you're right, it would be difficult to be correct 100% of the time. I am interested though, if you could please tell me what information you looked up on Snopes that was incorrect?

There have been several instances, in which Snopes has played the authority, without thoroughly researching issues. For instance, a few of these involved gang activities, which Snopes claimed were false . . . but were in fact, in regional local news and had been proven factual.
There have also been instances, in which Snopes has used its assumed credibility, to purposefully mislead people about other issues.

Snopes is run by a group of people, not a group of super-computers-of-only-fact/truth. No doubt 'most' of what they claim may be true. I'm just saying I don't take anything Snopes says, as gospel.

No, it's good to investigate something further than just the one source that's for sure. I read that Snopes is actually owned by a couple in California, although she is a Canadian..hmmm.... oh well... just some other random tidbit of "stuff" for me to think about. :D

My daughter will be 50 in April and to this day, she drop everything, and plan nothing when Rudolph us on TV. It has certainly given her much happiness through the years. Thanks for the history lesson on Rudolph.