Montgomery Ward, America's first mail-order company, launched its first catalog in 1872 and quickly expanded its catalog to include a wide range of goods. By the early 1900s, they were selling over 32,000 houses through mail order and had become the largest retailer in the US by the 1930s. Montgomery Ward's Christmas catalogs were a significant part of their success, especially with the introduction of the character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1939. Montgomery Ward's copywriter, Robert May