Cozy Holiday Reads

In 1939 Robert L. May, a copywriter working at Chicago's Montgomery Ward & Co., wrote a holiday story at the request of his employer. Almost two and a half million copies of the little tale about a reindeer with a shiny red nose were given away to all the children who visited Montgomery Ward stores that year. The rest is history. Seventy-five years later, the beloved classic is once again available in a hardcover faithful facsimile of the 1939 Rudolph, with original text and original Denver Gillen illustrations.

With historical photos and impeccable storytelling, this extraordinary book chronicles an astonishing moment in American history.

Starting Christmas Day, 1941, when transport trains on the Union Pacific Railroad stopped in North Platte to refill their water tanks, the local families of North Platte, Nebraska, came together to provide love, support, food, and morale to young soldiers involved in World War II—black and white—who briefly passed through their town. Troops poured into the North Platte Depot, The Canteen, to find homecooked meals, birthday cakes, hot coffee, cold milk, magazines, postcards, and the warmth of a grateful and loving community. The stops lasted only ten minutes, but the people of North Platte made sure that everyone in their midst was taken care of. This remarkable story will inspire readers of all ages, as The Canteen nourishes all who have the privilege to visit.