Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Adapted from “Stories Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas” by Ace Collins

In 1938, Bob May was looking toward another bleak Christmas. An advertising copywriter for Montgomery Ward in Chicago, May was on the brink of exhaustion. After fighting cancer for two years, his wife, Evelyn, was now losing the battle. She was in the last days of her long struggle. The husband and wife both knew she wouldn’t last long. Their daughter knew something was wrong too. That was likely the reason why on a cold December night, after visiting her bedridden mother, the four-year-old Barbara climbed up in her father’s lap and broke his heart with this question: “Why isn’t my mommy just like everyone else’s mommy?”

Barbara felt cheated. While other children had mothers who were an active part of their lives, Barbara’s mother was too sick to do anything but talk to her. Barbara couldn’t remember her mother playing with her, reading her stories, or taking her for walks. To the small child, this seemed unfair.

Bob was faced with a huge dilemma. How could he explain to his daughter that her mother really did love her in ways she didn’t understand? There had to be a way to provide an answer to the child.

Unable to provide a cure for his wife, he used his storytelling ability to address his daughter’s disillusionment and change her frown to a smile.

On that windy winter’s night, May made up a story about an odd looking reindeer who lived with Santa. The reindeer was small and different. His personality was part Bob and part Evelyn. Barbara loved the story and asked for it again the next night.

May created a homemade book for his daughter as a Christmas present. At about the same time his wife died. The book made the loss of her mother much easier on the child, and Barbara showed it to everyone who came to visit the family. One of those guests worked with May at Montgomery Ward. He convinced May to share his story at the company’s New Year’s Eve Party.

One man was impressed enough to later call Bob into his office. Stewell Avery was the chairman of the board of Montgomery Ward. He sensed that May’s story had potential. He offered to pay Bob a bonus of $300 if he could rework the piece into something the company could use as a giveaway during the holiday season of 1939.

In the first year, Wards gave away more than 2 million copies of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. By the time World War II broke out, the number had grown to 6 million. In the postwar boom, the mass-market release of Rudolph made the Wards’ copywriter a wealthy man.

May lived long enough to understand that a tough childhood and his wife’s short life inspired a creature who lights up the world in a dynamic and special way. Written for a single child, the story that became a song has touched tens of millions with the lesson that we are created for something special.