historysquee: The History of Santa’s Reindeer  The idea of Santa’s sleigh being pu

historysquee:

The History of Santa’s Reindeer 

The idea of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a team of reindeer is thought to have originated from the 1823 poem ‘A Visit From St Nicholas’ (also known as The Night Before Christmas), written by Clement C Moore. The reindeer were originally called Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. The last two reindeer names were altered over time and translations to Donner and Blitzen. Many different reindeer have been added over the years, however the only one that has become widely accepted is Rudolph. 

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first introduced in 1939, by Robert L May. The  character was created for the retailer Montgomery Ward, who had been buying colouring books and selling them for Christmas. It was decided that, to save money, they would create their own book and so the story of Rudolph was created. The story was written as a poem, with a similar style to the Visit From St Nicholas poem that had inspired the original reindeer. 

There have been many stories and films since their creation that have involved the reindeer team that pull Santa’s sleigh, including L Frank Baum’s ‘The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’, which listed ten entirely different reindeer. Other alternative reindeer include Robbie, Rusty, Ralph, Leroy and Olive, who was actually a dog, who have featured in various books and films over the last 80 years.