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
The California Raisins big) came up with an idea for the new raisin commercial, saying, "We have tried everything but dancing raisins singing 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine'" (the 1968 song popularized by Marvin Gaye). To their surprise, the commercial became wildly popular, paving the way for several future commercials and opportunities through other media. The commercials were produced by Vinton Studios using their claymation technique, with character designs by Michael Brunsfeld. The following year, the Raisins appeared in the Emmy Award-winning "A Claymation Christmas Celebration", singing the Christmas carol "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". The California Raisins released four studio albums on