The original rudolph

The tale of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was conceived in a home in Chicago, but born on a printing press at the corner of Sixth and Massachusetts streets here in Lawrence.

Set in the style of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the original words that flew off the press in 1938 are somewhat different from the ones we know today. In the original story, Rudolph was not one of Santa’s reindeer, but rather one living in a reindeer village with his family. When Santa came to bring Rudolph his presents, he added the diminutive reindeer to his sleigh in order to complete the deliveries on time.

But the story that was printed in downtown Lawrence was the basis for the Rudolph tale that exists today.

At the request of Montgomery Ward, Robert L. May composed a story to be sent with Montgomery Ward’s catalog and given to children who visited the company’s stores.

When it came time to select a printer, Montgomery Ward chose Kansas Color Press, an upstart printer at 600 Mass.

Though both Kansas Color Press and Montgomery Ward have since closed, the tale they created has become a Christmas tradition.

Kansas Color Press opened in 1935 when Dick and Gertrude Zimmerman moved their printing business from Liberal to Lawrence. Though times were difficult early on, the business started to take off with Montgomery Ward’s order of millions of copies of the Rudolph book, said the Zimmermans’ daughter, Gretchen Gerig, of Prairie Village.

When Dick Zimmerman was dying in 1968, Gertrude cleaned out his office and found several copies of the then-30-year-old book. She sent a copy of the book on to Gerig, along with a letter that described all that went into printing the colorful Christmas tale.

“We printed these in the rough old days. I think we printed 10 million,” Gertrude wrote. “Grandfather warned us not to do the job, but I knew we could. I’m sure Dick and I did two shifts per day.”

The shifts were long and involved hand-stapling the books together before sending them to Montgomery Ward stores across the country. Gertrude made regular stops at the Lawrence store to see if people were picking up the books, Gerig said.

“Mother said some day we’d appreciate (these books). We appreciated it then, but we appreciate it even more now,” Gerig said.

Original copies of the book are hard to come by. Most are tattered and torn, with pages that have browned over time.

Gerig has a copy, as does Virginia Herz, of Novato, Calif. Herz is May’s daughter and managing partner of the Robert L. May Co., which is responsible for overseeing all licensing of Rudolph products.

Herz was born after Rudolph was published and grew up in the time when it was well-known.

“As a kid, you don’t realize that what your dad did was unique,” Herz said. “Growing up, for me, Rudolph completely existed. On Christmas Eve, I was listening for Rudolph and the reindeer on the roof.”

The original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer story was written by Robert L. May of Chicago for Montgomery Ward and then printed at Kansas Color Press in Lawrence. The story was written and printed in 1939. Kansas Color Press was owened by Dick and Gertrude Zimmerman, who moved their business from Liberal, Kan., to Lawrence. Kansas Color Press closed in the 1980s. Montgomery Ward closed in the 1990s. More than 10 million copies of the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer book were printed here in Lawrence.

May’s story originally was rejected by officials at Montgomery Ward because they worried it would seem like Rudolph’s red nose was a sign of alcoholism, said Bonnie Wallin, a curator at the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College, where the original manuscript and story boards reside.

Eventually officials relented, Wallin said, and the tale of Rudolph was bound for Lawrence and Kansas Color Press.

The book found success almost immediately. More copies were printed every year until the paper shortage of World War II, Wallin said. After the war, Montgomery Ward ordered another press run before determining the story had run its course.

That was in 1946, well before Rudolph became a song, a TV special or a necktie. Rudolph, the unusual reindeer, had become an essential part of the holidays.

“I see this story as part of the love of Christmas,” Herz said. “It won’t go away. It can’t go away.”