Christmas in the post-war United States with Montgomery Ward. The song tells the story of a reindeer whose shiny red nose guides Santa's sleigh through the fog on Christmas Eve. Gene Autry's 1949 recording remained at #1 for a week and brought the song widespread fame. Only "White Christmas" has sold more copies. Autry had another hit in 1950 with "Frosty the Snowman", written by Jack Rollins and Steve Nelson as a direct attempt to create a success in the vein of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer". The song tells the story of a magical snowman who has playful adventures with children. In 1963, "Frosty" hit its
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special) the original LP released in 1964. Tracks 1-9 are the original soundtrack selections while tracks 10-19 are the same songs performed by the Decca Concert Orchestra. The song "Fame and Fortune" is not contained on either release. On November 30, 2004 the soundtrack was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over 500,000 copies. Ives re-recorded "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "A Holly Jolly Christmas", with different arrangements, for his own album "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" in 1965. Books and other items related to the show have in some cases misspelled "Hermey" as "Herbie". Rick