When I was writing the post on demographics and Christmas songs, I did some background reading and found myself going down the rabbit hole of the history of one of the most iconic Christmas songs, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
As with so many Christmas traditions, particularly those involving Santa Claus, this one had a marketing origin, specifically as a free promotion given out to kids whose parents were shopping at Montgomery Ward.
Compared to corporations today, which tend to cling to intellectual property like a miser clutching his shiniest coin, Montgomery Ward gave May the rights to the story, which was already doing good business in reprints.
The book and its sequels sold steadily for years afterwards. Its name recognition was still high enough in '48 to merit a Max Fleischer produced cartoon, later reedited to reference the song.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948)
In 1949, May’s brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, composed the version we’re all familiar with. Marks also wrote “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” (God, I hate that song), “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (written two years before it was used in the TV special—the things you learn from Wikipedia), “Silver and Gold,” and “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” He was also the great-uncle of economist Steven Levitt, which doesn’t seem very Christmasy.
From Wikipedia:
Gene Autry recorded the song on June 27, 1949,[6] and it was released as a children's record by Columbia Records in September 1949.[7] By November, Columbia had begun pushing the record to the pop music market. It hit No. 1 in the US charts during Christmas 1949.
The song had been suggested as a "B" side for a record Autry was making. He first rejected it, but his wife convinced him to use it. The official date of its No. 1 status was the week ending January 7, 1950, making it the first No. 1 song of the 1950s.[8] Autry's version of the song also holds the distinction of being the only chart-topping hit to fall completely off the chart after reaching No. 1. The success of the Christmas song gave support to Autry's subsequent popular Easter song, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".[citation needed]
The song was also performed on the December 6, 1949, Fibber McGee and Molly radio broadcast by Teeny (Marian Jordan's little girl character) and the Kingsmen vocal group. The lyrics varied greatly from the Autry version.[9] Autry's recording sold 1.75 million copies its first Christmas season and 1.5 million the following year.[10] In 1969, it was awarded a gold disk by the RIAA for sales of 7 million, which was Columbia's highest-selling record at the time.[11] It eventually sold a total of 12.5 million. Cover versions included, sales exceed 150 million copies, second only to Bing Crosby's "White Christmas"
As big as the song was, it was the 1964 TV special that insured that the character would be synonymous with the holiday season. There have been countless parodies of Rudolph, both the song and the special.. My favorites were done by MADtv: Raging Rudolph and The Reinfather, based on Goodfellas and The Godfather, respectively. While I actually have a slight preference for the former classic, I prefer the second parody. There are simply so many more iconic moments to play off of.
Raging Rudolph - MADtv
The Reinfather - MadTV
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