Vintage Christmas Photograph ~ Robert May, the man who wrote the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in 1939, stands in front of his home in Skokie, IL with his Rudolph creation on December, 19, 1949. May wrote the story, at the request of his boss, to hand out as a promotional item to customer&#39;s that came into the Montgomery Wards stores that year. (Not sure why Rudolph has two noses, unless they didn&#39;t have small light bulbs back then and this was the only way to light Rudolph&#39;s nose.)