After years of recession, we know all about cutting back and being frugal. Folks knew all about it during the Great Depression, too. Executives at Montgomery Ward weren’t worried about pinching pennies when the mail-order giant launched its first retail store in the mid-1920s. But by 1939, even the retail powerhouse had to cut costs during its annual Christmas promotion. So instead of buying coloring books, the company decided to create its own in-house giveaways.

Although 35-year-old Robert Lewis May was fortunate enough to be employed as a copywriter in Montgomery Ward’s advertising department, it still wasn’t the most wonderful time of year for him. His wife was battling a terminal illness. But since he enjoyed trying his hand at children’s stories, he appreciated the assignment to come up with a booklet to replace the coloring books. Perhaps his melancholy over his wife’s illness led him to think of his childhood as a small, shy boy often teased by others. Inspired by his memories, he created Rudolph, a red-nosed reindeer rejected by his classmates.

The store distributed 2.4 million copies of May’s tale that year alone.

Unexpected assistance

The death of May’s wife left him deeply in debt for her medical expenses, but Rudolph’s enduring popularity couldn’t help him. As a Montgomery Ward employee, his creation was “work for hire”—meaning the retailer owned the copyright and all the profits that came with it. However, once upon a time, a corporation did an unexpectedly wonderful thing.

In 1947, Sewell Avery—then president of the company—voluntarily gave May the Rudolph copyright. Two years later, Gene Autry’s recording of the song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” written by May’s brother-in-law Johnny Marks, sold 2 million copies, which secured May’s financial future. But being a frugal man—and a grateful employee—except for a period in the 1950s, May kept working for Montgomery Ward most until his retirement in 1971. He died in 1976, leaving behind a beloved holiday character and a story to remind us that pinching pennies can ultimately inspire both creativity … and generosity.