On December 19, 1843, 175 years ago, Charles Dickens’ book A Christmas Carol was published for the first time. It has since went on to be published multiple times and been the story of many movies and shows. The novella depicts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge that is visited by three ghosts from Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas yet to come.
During these visits, Scrooge is changed from an elderly miser into a compassionate and kind man. The book only took six weeks to write and the first edition sold out in less than one week. Dickens’ public readings of the novella were so successful that he performed 127 additional performances before he died. Dickens faced his own financial issues, even after writing the story Oliver Twist.
But it was the visits to the Cornish tin mines that bothered him the most. It was Victorian England and he saw children working in conditions that appalled him. Children in school were starved and the streets were filled with illiterate children.
Dickens’ new book was meant to bring compassion to these struggling classes, and that’s exactly what it did. The exclamation, “Bah! Humbug!” is now forever a part of history.
The name Scrooge will also forever be associated with miserly selfishness and was even added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 1982. Check out the video below to see one of the scenes from the movie and be sure to share this story with your family and friends.
