All you need to do is drive around your neighborhood to see the inflatable lawn decorations to realize how many pop culture Christmas characters we now have. There’s the Grinch, Elf on the Shelf, Frosty the Snowman, and of course, Rudolph. Outside of Santa Claus, they are all less than 100 years old. But there could have been many more. The success of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which was created as a promotion for Montgomery Ward department stores, led to many retail outlets creating their own Christmas characters that didn’t stand the test of time.
The story of the first man who played Mr. Jingeling, Santa’s keeper of the keys at Halle’s department store https://t.co/Olchu3phaH#CLE#ThisWasCLE#holidays#holidayseasonpic.twitter.com/KXIQcgUD86
— Cleveland Historical (@CLEhistorical) December 23, 2017
Does anyone remember Mr. Jingeling, the locksmith who helped Santa Claus? Unless you live in Cleveland, probably not. How about Billie the Brownie? Or Uncle Mistletoe and Aunt Holly? There were also Twigbee, Bawlmer Bear, and Mr. Bingle, among others. Read about these lesser-known Christmas advertising characters who were big in their day, but never reached the global fame of Rudolph, at Smithsonian.
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Source: neatorama