Stories behind Holiday Songs

Book writers are frequently asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” Do you ever wonder about the ideas behind some of our most famous holiday songs?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by Montgomery Ward employee, Robert L. May, in 1939 as an assignment. The department store chain commissioned May to write a story to be printed and given away to Christmas shoppers that year. Rudolph’s story was turned into the Christmas song we know today when May’s songwriter brother-in-law adapted the story to song and added lyrics. For the full story, click here.

Silent Night was written in 1818 by Father Joseph Mohr, parish priest of the Church of St. Nicholas, and the church’s organist, Franz Gruber. The church organ was out of commission and the men wrote Silent Night for the congregation to sing along with a guitar at the Christmas Eve service. Various accounts point to different reasons for the organ’s temporary disability. The most prominent reason told (and my favorite as a young music student and now) is that a rat chewed through a part of the organ and disabled it. If this is true, a rodent was the inspiration for one of the most famous Christmas carols of all time.

Do Christmas carols fill your car, office, or home at this time of year? Do you have a favorite?

Holiday Stories

During the month of December, I look forward to revisiting favorite holiday books and movies.

Some favorite books:

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story by Terri Hoover Dunham
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

Favorite holiday movies:
Scrooged
It’s a Wonderful Life





If holiday traditions aren’t enough to put a person in the Christmas spirit, it snowed here last evening.

Do you have favorite holiday stories you revisit year after year?