Welcome to Livlife. Where I am living my life out loud, for all to read.

Allrighteyroo then...we don't have a winner! It turns out that according to Robert Lewis May (and he invented Rudolph) that the brightly colored reindeer is not the progeny of Santa's main reindeer. 

 

(musical intro) You know Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? (drumbeat)

 

May wrote the story of Rudolph in 1939 as a promotional contest for shoppers at Montgomery Ward, where he worked.  He created him as a stand alone character that did not tie in to Santa and his other reindeer, but did eventually meet them by the end of the story. Rudolph lived in a small reindeer village and was mercilessly mocked by the other inhabitants of the town, none of whom were named Dasher or Dancer, etc. On Christmas Eve, Santa came to Rudolph's home to deliver gifts and that is when he first conceived of the idea to light the way as he traveled the globe. So you see, Rudolph's parentage is quite a bit less glorified than the stories would have you believe, he was born to ordinary reindeer parents in an ordinary reindeer town...but destined for greatness.

 

As an aside, the song was later adapted from the story and set to music by Johnny Marks in 1947. Marks was Robert May's brother-in-law and they collaborated to make even more money off of this phenomenon that May created. The song was eventually recorded in 1949 by Gene Autry who went on to make it the famous and the beloved classic we all know today.

 

There is your history/urban legend lesson for today. Class dismissed.