Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph is indeed the most famous reindeer of all. You might be able to name a couple of the other reindeer, but you'd be hard pressed to name them all. There's always one or two of those flying beasts whose names you can't remember. But Rudolph is the name that's always the first out of your mouth.

Rudy is a native Chicagoan. Robert L. May created him for his employer, Montgomery Ward, a Chicago-based retailer, to use as a marketing tool at Christmas. What this means is that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer did things the "Chicago way." If someone didn't pay back his juice money, you sent Rudolph to collect. Need some protection? Rudolph was your reindeer. Like to bet on sports? Talk to Rudy. Need someone to go away? Rudy will make that happen. When Joseph Kennedy needed a friend to count the votes in Cook County for his son John in the 1960 presidential election, who did he call? Rudolph.

Wait a minute...that's not Rudolph's story. Not at all. That's just a perverse rehashing of Chicago stereotypes and a maligning of Chicago's legitimate businessmen's associations. I won't stand for that.

Here's the real story behind Rudolph...