The east Texas city of Lufkin is home to Lufkin Industries, which makes oil field equipment, including pumps. While other towns have a municipal Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Lufkin instead lights up Rudolph the Red-Nosed Pumping Unit, who then dips his nose festively from 10AM to 10PM through the Christmas season. The tradition has been going on in Lufkin since 1966, and this year’s lighting ceremony was on November 21st. From the Lukfin Convention and Visitors Bureau:
Brought to us by Lufkin Industries, Rudolph is a full-size Mark 640 oil pumping unit. The unit is fully operational; however, the red paint job is a special touch reserved only for the holiday season. It takes nearly three days for a crew to get Rudolph moved in to his holiday spot in the Lufkin mall parking lot. It takes an electrician about four days to set up the 1,000+ 7-watt lights that adorn Rudolph. When the unit is fully extended, it is 45 feet from top to bottom. Talk about a Christmas miracle! Attached to Rudolph is a 38-foot dump trailer decorated to look like Santa’s sleigh, complete with a wooden cutout of Santa and all of his gifts for the good boys and girls of Lufkin.
Every year, the new, locally manufactured pumping unit is sent out to work in the oil fields after doing its Christmas duty. So the next time you are traveling through oil country and see a bright red oil well pump that resembles Rudolph, you’ll know why. The video above is from the lighting ceremony in 2011. -Thanks, Russ!
(Image credit: Lufkin Industries)