Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of one of the more important developments in modern American mythology, however, this year, I would like to tell you about one of it's ramifications. More below the fold.
The year was 1946, and Robert May was hurting. His wife had just died after a long bout with cancer. The medical bills had piled up and he was choked with debt. He was at his wit's end. What was he to do?
May was a copywriter in the advertising department of the Montgomery Ward department store chain. Back in 1938, his boss had decided that it might be cheaper for the company if the annual Christmas give-away was done in-house, so May was given the task of creating one.
So, being a bit of a poet, he created a christmas tale about a misfit reindeer named...you guessed it!....Rudolph. The illustrations were done by his friend Denver Gillen, who worked in the Art department. The pamphlet was a hit, and during World War II was republished every year, saving the company tons of money and building brand loyalty.
As an employee working on a project for the company, May and Gillen didn't get the rights to their creation. Montgomery Ward owned Rudolph lock, stock and barrel. The brass liked May, but what they did in December of 1946 was unheard of. After great effort, May managed to wrangle an appointment with the president and CEO of Montgomery Ward, Sewell Avery. He explained his plight and made what was for the time and outrageous request. He wanted the copyright to his creation.
Avery thought about it. Even then licensing was a profitable business and Rudy had potential, a movie version had come out a couple of years before, directed by Max Fleischer of all people! But it was the Christmas season and, well, Montgomery Ward decided to be generous. So in January 1947, Montgomery Ward gave Robert May the copyright and trademark. He got his brother-in-law to write a song about Rudy, and then licensed "Little Golden Books" to adapt the coloring book for a hardbound edition and DC comics for his own comic book. May lived happily ever after.
What Sewell Avary and the Montgomery Ward board of directors gave Robert May is one of the very best Christmas presents of the 20th century. Not all corporations are heartless.