I HOPE YOU ALL having a great Christmas. Takes awhile acoming – then it’s gone in a flash!

Did you know that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was not Rudolph at all. She was Rudolphina. Yes, she was female. Why? Because only female reindeers still have their antlers (not horns) at Christmas. They grow them in the summer and lose them in the spring after giving birth.

Male reindeers also grow them in the summer but lose them around the end of November/mid-December.   There’s more: female reindeers (Cervidae) are the only female deer that grow antlers – you won’t find them on any other species of  female deer.

That means we have to rename some of the Chritsmas gang. Dasher, Dancer,
Prancer, Vixen, Comet (who can tell the difference between a male/female comet fish?) can all keep their names. Cupid – as a male god of love, the closest female version of him is probably Venus. Donner becomes Donna, and Blitzen …. hmmm …. let’s stay with that, just don’t argue with her.

There goes Santa and the girls (Rudolphina appears to be is missing)

The Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry (real name Orvon Grover Autry – yes, I’d change it as well), first made the ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ song a No 1 hit in December 1949.  Autry’s recording sold 1.75 million copies its first Christmas season, eventually selling a total of 12.5 million. Cover versions included, sales exceed 150 million copies, second only to Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’.  Such information!

Orvon ‘Gene’ Autry (1907-98)

I wish you all a Happy New Year