The Story of How Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer Came To Be

The book cover for Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May

Wow, I had no idea about the origin story of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer! If you aren’t familiar with it either, read below:

As the holiday season of 1938 came to Chicago, Bob May wasn’t feeling much comfort or joy. A 34-year-old ad writer for Montgomery Ward, May was exhausted and nearly broke. His wife, Evelyn, was bedridden, on the losing end of a two-year battle with cancer. This left Bob to look after their four-year old-daughter, Barbara.

One night, Barbara asked her father, “Why isn’t my mommy like everybody else’s mommy?” As he struggled to answer his daughter’s question, Bob remembered the pain of his own childhood. A small, sickly boy, he was constantly picked on and called names. But he wanted to give his daughter hope, and show her that being different was nothing to be ashamed of. More than that, he wanted her to know that he loved her and would always take care of her. So he began to spin a tale about a reindeer with a bright red nose who found a special place on Santa’s team. Barbara loved the story so much that she made her father tell it every night before bedtime. As he did, it grew more elaborate. Because he couldn’t afford to buy his daughter a gift for Christmas, Bob decided to turn the story into a homemade picture book.

In early December, Bob’s wife died. Though he was heartbroken, he kept working on the book for his daughter. A few days before Christmas, he reluctantly attended a company party at Montgomery Ward. His co-workers encouraged him to share the story he’d written. After he read it, there was a standing ovation. Everyone wanted copies of their own. Montgomery Ward bought the rights to the book from their debt-ridden employee. Over the next six years, at Christmas, they gave away six million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to shoppers. Every major publishing house in the country was making offers to obtain the book. In an incredible display of good will, the head of the department store returned all rights to Bob May. Four years later, Rudolph had made him into a millionaire.

Now remarried with a growing family, May felt blessed by his good fortune. But there was more to come. His brother-in-law, a successful songwriter named Johnny Marks, set the uplifting story to music. The song was pitched to artists from Bing Crosby on down. They all passed. Finally, Marks approached Gene Autry. The cowboy star had scored a holiday hit with “Here Comes Santa Claus” a few years before. Like the others, Autry wasn’t impressed with the song about the misfit reindeer. Marks begged him to give it a second listen. Autry played it for his wife, Ina. She was so touched by the line “They wouldn’t let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games” that she insisted her husband record the tune.

Within a few years, it had become the second best-selling Christmas song ever, right behind “White Christmas.” Since then, Rudolph has come to life in TV specials, cartoons, movies, toys, games, coloring books, greeting cards, and even a Ringling Bros. circus act. The little red-nosed reindeer dreamed up by Bob May and immortalized in song by Johnny Marks has come to symbolize Christmas as much as Santa Claus, evergreen trees, and presents. As the last line of the song says, “He’ll go down in history.”

All credit goes to

@awesome moments on Twitter, or X

We never know how an idea will become a great book, movie, or brighton someone’s life.

Gain the Advantage,

Alicia Osmera

Happy Bookaversary to Me

Photo of the book cover of Terror In The North Tower

Happy Bookaversary to me!

The number eight

Today marks eight years since I had my first book hit the market. When my book first came out I write a blog post titled  I Wrote A Book

Since then its first publication, over twenty books have been sold.  Don’t be sad.  I am just happy that I had book sales. 

Self Publishing

After having gone through the self-publishing experience,  I can honestly tell you I’d never do it again!!  Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher.

Marketing Plan

Maybe it’s because I didn’t take making a Marketing plan as seriously as I should have.  I didn’t have a “marketing plan” in place. My plan consisted of zero advertising, word of mouth, social media posts, book giveaways, and writing blog articles. Next time a publishing company can do it all. I’d be happy to attend book signings.

Writing The Sequel

Writing the sequel has been a challenge over the last few years. Life has gotten in the way of actually sitting down, and pushing forward to get it done.

My goal is to finish things up by the end of this year. Stay tuned.

#happybookaversay to me

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like and leave a comment. By all means, feel free to buy my book.

Gain The Advantage,

Alicia Osmera

Sometimes!

Merriam – Webster defines the word sometimes as an adverb, meaning at times, now and then or occasionally.

Sometimes I really want to work for myself and answer to no one else but me. Other times, I’m stuck in the vortex of having a nine to five and doing what I’m asked to do. I’ve tried Network Marketing with many different companies. Unfortunately for me, they all ended up a bust.

So what’s an alternative choice?

I wrote a book titled, “Terror In The North Tower” which I am very proud of for my accomplishment. Due to financial reasons, I chose to self-publish my book. I will admit that I haven’t been very great about promoting it and really hitting a high sales goal.

I will never forget the feeling I had when the book was shipped to me. I was so excited to see the actual words in print! I haven’t had too many sales since 2016. I blame myself for not digging in and making it a priority.

However, I’m more determined at this point in my life to start promoting it more and work on writing the sequel to it. Many people have asked me, “Alicia, why haven’t you written the second part of your book”? I I have no excuses. I just haven’t sat down to start writing it.

To purchase the book click here. If you have any ideas on promoting a self-published book please leave a comment below.

Gain The Advantage,

Alicia Osmera