Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, like its name suggests, is a reindeer with a glowing red nose. Many know him to be Santa’s 9th reindeer and can be found leading the other reindeers at the head of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. His illuminated nose is bright enough to light the sleigh’s path in December’s winter weather.
On this day, December 25, in 1939, Rudolph made his first appearance in a booklet written by Robert May and published by Montgomery Ward. The Christmas-themed story-poem was set to bring more holiday traffic to his store.
Montgomery Ward sold almost 2.5 million copies of the story that year. When reissued about 7 years later, it sold over 3.5 million copies. Since then, the story has been translated into 25 different languages, narrated to numerous audiences, and converted into a TV movie.