Red-dy to Go

Robert did.

Times were tough for Robert. He was a copywriter at a large department store chain called Montgomery Ward but it didn’t pay well and he struggled to make ends meet. One day his boss asked Robert to write a story they could hand out to shoppers at Christmas time … well Robert wrestled with ideas before coming up with a character based on his 4 year old daughter’s favourite animal at the zoo … he was really enjoying the assignment when tragedy struck … his wife passed from cancer … his bosses offered to take him off the job … but grief-stricken Robert insisted on finishing it … and when it got released at Christmas .. it was a huge hit with over 2 million copies given out …. Seven years later with Robert still struggling financially a company asked if they could make a spoken word record of the story … but the department store owned the rights … and that’s when Xmas really arrived for Robert … as the president of the Montgomery Ward gave Robert the rights to the character and story free and clear .. oh and then his brother-in-law wrote a little song about the character and that was that.

Today, 80 years later, the character Robert May created for a department store based on an animal his daughter loved at the zoo is one of the most successful and beloved of all time … Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Rudolph is a great idea because perseverance through tough times often leads to unexpected opportunities and success. Merry Xmas from Today’s Great Idea.com