"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" In 1939, Chicago copywriter Robert May created the character of Rudolph for the annual Christmas coloring booklet for the retail and catalog company Montgomery Ward. May created a reindeer because his toddler daughter was crazy about the deer at Lincoln Park Zoo. Depicting Rudolph as an outsider was inspired by May’s own experience being picked on while growing up for being shy and small. May got the idea for Rudolph’s glowing nose from gazing out his office window and thinking about how Santa would be able to navigate through the fog over Lake Michigan. Rudolph’s...