Gilley as a small paperback book entitled The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve. The poem, with eight colored lithographic illustrations, was published by William B.

The names of the author and the illustrator are not known. The first reference to Santa's sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appears in ' Old Santeclaus with Much Delight', an 1821 illustrated children's poem published in New York. Origins and history Single reindeer Illustration to the first verse of ' Old Santeclaus with Much Delight', 1821 Many other variations in reindeer names and number have appeared in fiction, music, film and TV. May's 1939 storybook Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Gene Autry's 1949 Christmas song ' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer', resulted in Rudolph often being included as the ninth character. In the original poem, the names of the reindeer are given as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. Nicholas, the work that is largely responsible for the reindeer becoming popularly known. The number of reindeer characters, and the names given to them (if any) vary in different versions, but those frequently cited in the United States and Canada are the eight listed in Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem A Visit from St. In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. A parade float with a model of Santa's reindeer and sleigh in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, 2009

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