Well, here it is time for my (sometimes) annual Christmas Blog. It’s been particularly busy around our house this year, lots of it not attributable to Christmas. Nonetheless, Christmas is almost here. It’ll be fun this year because we now have four grandchildren under eight years of age.
I know in years past that I’ve talked about reindeer — especially Santa’s reindeer because they seem to have special powers, like being able to fly.
I never thought much about them lately until the other day I read an article explaining that all of Santa’s reindeer are girls — not boys. I’m not sure why, but I always assumed they were boys…. but here’s the scoop. Santa’s reindeer must all be female because male reindeer shed their antlers during the winter, while female reindeers retain theirs. Santa’s reindeer are always shown with antlers. Also — male reindeer lose nourishment and vitality during the winter months, so only the females are strong and healthy enough to pull a sleigh full of toys. So there you go — who knew?
And while we’re on the subject of reindeer — how about their names? I know the tendency these days is to come up with non-traditional names, but… Blitzer? Vixen? Who in the world would come up with names like those? I’d guessed that the reindeer must have been named by Clement C. Moore who wrote the ‘Night Before Christmas’ poem. But just about like everything today, there’s a little controversy here, too.
The ‘Night Before Christmas’ was first published anonymously in a New York newspaper on December 23, 1823. The poem was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, but there is bit of disagreement and some people attribute the authorship to a Dutch migrant, Henry Livingston.
Anyhow, originally/traditionally there are eight reindeer — Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. These eight reindeer pulled Santa’s sleigh until 1939 when Rudolph, the mis-fit with the red nose came along. Rudolph first appeared in a coloring book by Robert L. May. Soon afterwards, the song was written (for Gene Autry.)
I suppose I shouldn’t leave this subject without mentioning Santa’s tenth reindeer, who gets almost no notice at all — Bruno the brown-nosed reindeer. Bruno gets a bum rap just because he can run just as fast as the others, but can’t stop as quickly.
Merry Christmas to everyone!!
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