An American's Dream

In 1939, Robert May an advertising copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago conceived the idea of a shiny-rednosed reindeer. May considered many names and finally settled on Rudolph, chosen by his four-year-old daughter. That Christmas 69 years ago, 2.4 million copies of the "Rudolph" booklet were handed out in Montgomery Ward stores across the USA.

In 1947 a friend of Robert May's, Johnny Marks, decided to put the poem to music. One singer after another turned down the opportunity to record the song. Finally, two years later, Gene Autry consented. The Autry recording became a hit. Since then, three hundred different recordings have been made, and more than eighty million records sold.
And Rudolf has become the stuff of legends...

Thanks to Amanda and Paul for sending this card(the image above is a detail of it)...