JOHNNY MARKS - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 254894

JOHNNY MARKS
Black and white photograph of the composer shown in a suit and tie and sitting at a piano, signed by him and his most famous creation, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, in a 14x16 gold frame with a gray-and-red matte. Accompanied by sheet music for Marks' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Photograph Inscribed and Signed: "For Robert Lidwing/From Johnny Marks/and/Rudolph/and Rudolph". B/w, 8x9¾ photo in a 14x16 gold frame with a gray-and-red matte.Signature has poor adhesion in places and is lightly smudged, but is legible. Frame glass is lightly soiled and has tape residue in top right condition. Otherwise, fine condition. Accompanied by: Sheet music for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks. Four pages including covers. Published by St. Nicholas Music Inc., New York City. ©1949 St. Nicholas Music Inc. Lightly toned and creased. Lightly scuffed and chipped bottom edge. Light worn and rounded corners. Otherwise, fine condition. Johnny Marks (1909-1985), who began songwriting in 1935, founded St. Nicholas Music, a music publishing company in 1949. That year, Gene Autry first introduced Marks' best-known song, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1949) at Madison Square Garden. Marks wrote the song in 1947, when his brother-in-law, Robert L. May received the copyright from Montgomery Ward (May had created the character in 1939, when the department store chain tapped him to write a Christmas story that they could hand out to customers as a promotional gimmick).Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been recorded over 500 times, with over 150 million copies sold in every major language. Other Christmas songs by Marks include I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day (1956), Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (1958, a huge hit for Brenda Lee, who first recorded it for Decca Records), Silver and Gold (1962) and A Holly Jolly Christmas (1962). Marks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Two items. Not framed in Gallery of History style.