Countdown to Christmas
24 - Flying Reindeer Sleigh
- In the old days, Christmas was a sad affair. Santa Claus never came to bring presents. Only a privileged few children would receive presents, because their parents pretended they were Santa Claus.
- However, when Santa came up with his new invention, the flying reindeer sleigh, it immediately solved the distribution problem, which, of course, could be solved by state-run postal services. Today, Christmas finally is the festival of happily pampered children! This is true progress.
Inventor
The inventor is Santa Claus, who experimented with a sleigh pulled by only one reindeer in 1821 (documented by an anonymous poet). This was still unsufficient to meet the demand for presents. Clement Charles Moore described in his poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” in 1823 an improved version with eight reindeers, which worked well under good weather conditions! In 1949 Singer Gene Autry mentioned the appearance of a genetically enhanced reindeer named Rudolph, who – with a brightly shining red nose – could master even foggy weather conditions. Merry Christmas for ever!
Since Christmas is all about presents, the usefulness and ingenuity of Santa's invention of the flying reindeer driven sleigh needs no further explanation. For those few people who believe that Christmas should not address material, but rather spiritual needs, the life and career of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is the most heart-warming story of them all.
