Fun on Friday: Wait, What? He Wasn’t Looking for Silver and Gold?

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is my favorite Christmas special. And Yukon Cornelious is one of my favorite characters in the show. I mean what’s not to like, right? He’s a man’s man. He openly carries a gun. He travels with cornmeal and gunpowder and ham hocks and guitar strings. And he’s always on the lookout for silver and gold.

Smart guy!

You’ll recall that when Cornelious meets Rudolph and Hermey, he launched into a dramatic and emphatic introduction.

The name’s Yukon Cornelious, the greatest prospector in the north! And you know, it’s rich with gold! Gold! Gold and silver! Silver and gold! Wahooo!”

He punctuates his greeting by tossing his pickaxe in the air, licking it and declaring, “Nothin’.”

The pickaxe toss and lick repeats throughout the show. On a sidenote – yuck. And how did his tongue not freeze to the metal?

Anyway, you are probably under the impression that Yukon was hoping to discover riches in gold and silver. That’s the impression you get.

Well, I’m about to wreck your childhood because that’s not what he was doing at all.

There is a scene that was deleted by CBS that explains exactly what Yukon was looking for. Rick Goldschmidt wrote a book on Rudolph and calls this “the most significant deleted scene.” An article in the Huffington Post explains what happened.

It comes right after Rudolph guides Santa through the air to the Island of Misfit Toys. Rudolph’s parents, Donner and Mrs. Donner, Rudolph’s girlfriend, Clarice, and Cornelius are featured, while Donner says, ‘That’s my buck!’ finally confirming Rudolph’s dad is no longer ashamed, as Goldschmidt points out. But more illuminating is that the scene finally gives an answer as to why Cornelius kept licking his pickax throughout the special. In this deleted scene, Cornelius throws his ax in the air, lets it strike the ground and then, after licking it as he has been wont to do, declares, ‘Peppermint! What I’ve been searching for all my life! I’ve struck it rich. I’ve got me a peppermint mine … Wahoooo!'”

And here’s the deleted scene. You’re welcome!

If you happen to remember watching the Christmas special in 1964, you might already know this. That was the last time the deleted scene was on TV. I wasn’t born yet, so, I don’t remember it.

By the way, the deleted scene is also on the DVD.

But I honestly haven’t ever watched it on disc. I always just tune into the TV show when it airs. This has totally shifted my worldview. I’ve been misled all my life. All these years I thought Yukon was all about the bling. He just wanted to get in on the candy cane market. I’m pretty-much questioning everything from my childhood now. Next thing you know somebody is going to tell me Santa Clause isn’t real!

Upon further reflection, I’ve decided Yukon was a little misguided. I mean, come on. Peppermint?  He should have been hunting for chocolate! Duh.

And really, I don’t know about you, but I’ll take gold or silver over chocolate any day. I know where you can find them too. Just call a SchiffGold precious metals specialist at 1-888-GOLD-160. They know how to get precious metals to you and you won’t have to lick a nasty, dirty handtool. If you’re really nice, you might even be able to talk them into sending you a candy cane. But no promises.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

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