Here’s the Surprising History Behind Your Favorite Christmas Carols

Rudolph got his start in advertising

In 1939, with the Great Depression starting to fade and World War II lurking, Christmas cheer was in short supply. Montogomery Ward department store HQ took it upon themselves to get children and families into the holiday spirit by creating a free book for kids. Adman Robert May came up with the idea of a reindeer as his main character. According to History.com, “As he peered out at the thick fog that had drifted off Lake Michigan, May came up with the idea of a misfit reindeer ostracized because of his luminescent nose, who used his physical abnormality to guide Santa’s sleigh and save Christmas.” Check out these true stories of Christmas miracles.

As a limerick writer, May loved alliteration; he brainstormed different names that began with the letter “R” like Reginald and Rodney. Luckily Rudolph stuck because singing about “Rollo the Red-Nosed Reindeer”—another of his tries—just wouldn’t be the same. The book was a huge success for Montgomery Ward, but they signed over the copyright to May in 1947. Two years later, May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks, a songwriter, put Rudolph’s story to music life. History.com notes that Bing Crosby was given the first crack to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” but Gene Autry recorded the song after Crosby turned it down. That was a big mistake since two million copies were sold and the song continues to be one of the best-selling of all time.

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