7

Once a year the photo of my big brother and I at Santa’s Village gets hauled out and put on display. It’s the original frame too. Antiques, all! • Without delay, here’s #7 on our Christmas Song Countdown: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks, 1939 • Marks’s brother-in-law, Robert May, was hired by Montgomery Ward to write a Christmas story for their holiday promotions and free coloring book; it was published in 1939. Marks decided to adapt May’s Rudolph poem into a song • Gene Autry’s recording hit #1 the week of Christmas, 1949. Autry initially rejected the song but his wife urged him to do it because Rudolph was so “enchanting” • In 1963 the first animated TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” was aired, and a number of the songs performed were also written by Marks, ie Silver and Gold, Holly Jolly Christmas • This is Marks’s second song in our Top 25 Countdown, so far! • In 1973 he and Irving Berlin edged out a 19th century British author for an award from the International Society of Santa Claus. The award honors the single most important contribution to Christmas over a number of years. That author? Charles Dickens for A Christmas Carol! • Stay Tuned For Tomorrow’s Reveal!