Maybe it's the undeniable alliterative appeal of Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer <br />that makes him the most known or popular of all Santa's nine flying reindeers. <br />It certainly doesn't seem as easy to come up with a similar catchy description <br />for the others - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and <br />Blitzen - as named in the song. The story of Rudolph whose glowing red nose made him a standout, first appeared <br />in 1939 when Montgomery Ward department stores distributed about 2.4 million <br />booklets with the poem in the form of a story about Rudolph the Red-Nosed <br />Reindeer. It was written by Robert L. May, who worked in the store's <br />advertisement or marketing department, to be used to attract more people into <br />the store. When the booklet was reissued in 1939, sales soared to more than 3.5 <br />million copies. But it wasn't until a decade later, in 1949, that the story <br />really gained immense popularity when Gene Autry sang a musical version of the <br />fable. As a Christmas song, it
