Happy
holiday season, friends and neighbors.
With the onslaught of
various holiday greetings and messages everywhere, I have been pondering the
origins of some of these, for want of a better word, “things” that have become
tradition - the colors of red and green, the tree with decorations, the wreath,
various songs, St. Nicholas, stockings, and so forth.
Recently I was somewhere
– I don’t remember quite where – and there was music playing. It was Christmas
music, but it was unusual in that it involved a duet of cellos. They were
playing “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer”. The sound was lovely, but there was
something so ridiculous about making lovely a song about a fictional [cartoon]
character, that I began to wonder about Rudolph’s origins.
According to Wikipedia:
Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939, as an assignment
for Chicago-based
Montgomery
Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring
books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own
book would save money. Rudolph was supposed to be a moose but that was changed
because a reindeer seemed friendly.[citation needed] May considered
naming the reindeer "Rollo" or "Reginald" before deciding
upon using the name "Rudolph".[7]
In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward had distributed 2.5 million
copies of Rudolph's story.
Wow. Those numbers certainly
explain how Rudolph became so popular so quickly. If you are not familiar with the story of
Rudolph, it goes like this:
"The story chronicles the experiences of Rudolph, a
youthful reindeer buck (male) who possesses an unusual luminous red nose. Mocked
and excluded by his peers because of this trait, Rudolph manages to prove
himself one Christmas Eve after Santa
Claus catches sight of Rudolph's nose and asks Rudolph to lead his sleigh
for the evening. Rudolph agrees, and is finally treated better by his fellow
reindeer for his heroism."
I’m glad I researched
this. It is a story with a message. Making fun of or bullying others because of
some difference from ourselves is wrong. A difference is often a blessing.
Quickly let me say that we
at the Pine River Public Library will be closed Saturday, Dec. 24 and Monday
Dec. 26th as well as Monday, Jan. 2nd. Shortly thereafter
– the very next day, in fact – the adult reading program begins. “Snow Time To
Read”.
Read 15 books in three months (until March 31) and receive a mug. Slips
for chronicling your reading are available at our library. For those who fill
out a second slip, your names will be placed in a drawing for an infused water
bottle.
Happy reading!
Browser, the library cat
