Editing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (section)

==Publication history==
[[Robert L. May]] created Rudolph in 1939 as an assignment for Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away booklets for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money. May considered naming the reindeer Rollo or Reginald before deciding upon using the name Rudolph.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Old Fashioned Christmas|series=University Place/[[Wisconsin Historical Society]]|network=[[Wisconsin Public Television]]|airdate=December 12, 2010|minutes= 0:28}}</ref> May chose a reindeer because of his daughter's love of the deer at [[Lincoln Park Zoo]] in [[Chicago|Chicago, IL]].<ref>{{cite web|title=History Minute: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's Roots |url=https://urbnexplorer.com/history-minute-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeers-roots/|website=urbnexplorer.com|access-date=6 December 2024}}</ref> May also said he was treated like Rudolph as a child.<ref>{{cite news|title=Like a Light Bulb!|last=Lippert|first=Barbara|work=[[Advertising Age]]|date=December 18, 2017|page=32}}</ref> In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward distributed 2.4 million copies of Rudolph's story.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://issuu.com/canwestcommunitypublishing/docs/bbyfri20101224|title= Rudolph's Burnaby roots|page= A11|first= Jennifer|last= Moreau|date= December 24, 2010|newspaper= [[Burnaby Now]]}}</ref> The story is written as a poem in [[anapestic tetrameter]], the same meter as "[[A Visit from St. Nicholas]]" (also known as {{"'}}Twas the Night Before Christmas").<ref>{{cite web|title='Rudolph': The Original Red-Nosed Manuscript |url=http://www.npr.org/2013/12/25/256579598/writing-rudolph-the-original-red-nosed-manuscript|website=npr.org|access-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227012618/http://www.npr.org/2013/12/25/256579598/writing-rudolph-the-original-red-nosed-manuscript|archive-date=December 27, 2013|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> Publication and reprint rights for the book ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' are controlled by [[Pearson PLC]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

While May was staring out his office window in downtown Chicago, pondering how best to craft a Christmas story about a reindeer, a thick fog from [[Lake Michigan]] blocked his view—giving him a flash of inspiration. "Suddenly I had it!" he recalled. "A nose! A bright red nose that would shine through fog like a spotlight."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-jewish-man-who-created-a-christmas-classic/article/2643917|title=The Jewish man who created a Christmas classic|last=Powell|first=J. Mark|work=Washington Examiner|access-date=2017-12-20|language=en}}</ref>

The cultural significance of a red nose has changed since the story's publication. In 1930's popular culture, a bright red nose was closely associated with chronic alcoholism and drunkards, so the story idea was initially rejected. May asked his illustrator friend at Montgomery Ward, Denver Gillen, to draw "cute reindeer", using zoo deer as models. The alert, bouncy character Gillen developed convinced management to support the idea.<ref>{{cite news|title=How Rudolph the reindeer came to be|page=A3|first=Wanda|last=Chow|date=December 2010|newspaper=Burnaby Now}}</ref>

Maxton Books published the first mass-market edition of Rudolph in 1947. The copyright for it will expire in 2034.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://creativelawcenter.com/copyright-rudolph-reindeer/|title=Who Owns Rudolph's Nose?, A History of Copyright Office Filings, Creative Law Center, retrieved June 21, 2023|date=December 21, 2016}}</ref> A sequel, ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again'', was published in 1954.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} In 1992, Applewood Books published ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'', an unpublished sequel that Robert May wrote in 1947.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} In 2003, [[Penguin Books]] issued a reprint version of the original ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' with new artwork by Lisa Papp.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Penguin also reprinted May's sequels, ''Rudolph Shines Again'' and ''Rudolph's Second Christmas'' (now retitled ''Rudolph to the Rescue'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3289176038&tab=1&searchurl=|title=Rudolph's Second Christmas by May, Robert Lewis: Applewood Books, Old Saybrook 9781557091925 Hardcover, First Edition, First Printing. - primeeditions|publisher=Abebooks.com|date=2003-01-22|access-date=2019-01-14}}</ref>