We see it every year around the holiday season – someone forwards an email or makes a post on Facebook about how “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was created by a father hoping to comfort his daughter while his wife was dying of cancer. It’s a beautiful, sad story… but unfortunately, it’s just a story, albeit it with grains of truth. Rudolph may be an extraordinary reindeer, but he’s got a  somewhat more ordinary origin.

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.”
—Johnny Marks

In 1939, one of the Montgomery Ward Company’s copywriters, Robert May, was assigned to create a Christmas character for a booklet to be given away to customers in a promotion. May had a knack for children’s stories, and eventually came up with a version of  the familiar tale of Rudolph, a reindeer ostracized because of his glowing red nose.

For the whole story on the true origin of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and to learn what happened to Robert May, check out this page on Snopes.com.

Reindeer are a popular part of the holiday season, drawing Santa’s sleigh as he delivers toys to all the good boys and girls of the world. At Greeting Card Universe, we have lots of fun, custom holiday cards featuring reindeer that will bring lots of color, light, and good humor to your friends and family!

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