Throughout centuries, stories have been repeatedly told every Christmas about three main characters: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and The Grinch.
One of the first stories children can be told is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This little reindeer was said to be bullied for his red nose, but later found out his purpose in life was greater than the other reindeer. This gives kids the idea that differences make everyone unique.
The only unique thing about this story though, is that it was originally written as an ad for a department store. The Montgomery Ward Department Store had asked one of their copywriters, Robert May to create a Christmas themed story in order to promote their shop and bring new customers in.
The company had been giving away coloring books annually for Christmas and thought writing and selling their own book would save money. Within the first year of it’s publication, 2.4 million copies of the Red Nosed Reindeer were sold.
In most cases, there is always competition. In 1950, two songwriters wanted to challenge the popularity of Rudolph and take over the Christmas crown. Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson produced the idea of Frosty, then gave their idea to Gene Autry who had sung about Rudolph. He wanted a sequel to his album “The Original: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and other Christmas favorites” and decided Frosty the Snowman was the perfect match. After the song was released, it gained popularity quickly. This struck the idea of creating the movie which was released in 1969.
The Hoobub and the Grinch is a 33 line poem written by Dr. Suess, which was originally published in a 1955 edition of Redbook Magazine. A couple of years later, Dr. Suess started writing “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” This story formulated multiple ideas for songs and movies. ‘The song, You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch’ was composed for the 1966 animation based on the book. Annually, about 7.5 million copies of The Grinch are sold.
Although all three of these origins are different and special in their own ways, they all have a special place in our hearts and fill our lives with Christmas cheer. Every holiday season when the fire is crackling and hot chocolate is in hand, listening to the iconic music and rhymes produced by these characters is what truly sets the spirit of Christmas.
