Who makes it through a Christmas season without a "Bah Humbug!" or a "God bless us every one?" Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim are just as much a part of the Christmas landscape as snowmen and Santa Clauses. We can thank Charles Dickens for putting this little jewel of a novella, A Christmas Carol, into our hands today, December 19th, in 1843. You often hear literary works referred to as "instant classics" and A Christmas Carol is the perfect example of such. When the novella hit the shelves in 1843, Dickens' publisher simply couldn't keep up with the demand; people in Britain were absolutely jonesing for the interesting little read.
One interesting part of the Christmas must-have of 1843 is that it almost wasn't published. Dickens wanted to publish a story about Christmas and actually rushed to get it written. He started it in October 1843 and put the finishing touches on it the first week of December, a mere 6 weeks of writing time (something I as a writer bow to Mr. Dickens for accomplishing). When Dickens presented the work to his publisher, they were happy to get it on the shelves before Christmas but only wanted to pay him a very small lump-sum payment. The publishers had screwed Dickens over with such an act before- only paying him an upfront amount and then making big bucks off of his works- so Dickens walked away and published the work at his own cost. A gamble? Most definitely! A success? Even more so- 6000 copies were sold between 12/19 and 12/25 at the equivalent of $20 each in today's money and then SEVEN more publication runs were sold out in less than 5 months.
So what was Charles Dickens trying to tell his readers with A Christmas Carol? Two things actually. First, it is a tale of morality and redemption. Ebenezer Scrooge is definitely a reprobate- cheats, steals, mistreats sweet little innocents like Bob Cratchett and Tiny Tim- but in the end, if he (and we by default) face up to our shortcomings and work harder, we have a second chance at the right kind of life.
Secondly, Dickens wrote this work at a time when Britain was trying to reestablish Christmas traditions. Back in 1644 (December 19th, the same day this book was published) Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell had dictated that the country could not celebrate anything associated with Christmas and in the ensuing centuries, old English traditions had simply faded away. That changed with Queen Victoria taking the throne and her husband Prince Albert blending his own German holiday traditions such as decorating and having Christmas trees in with the royal family's typical non-Christmas plans. Dickens was one of many authors at the time who truly believed that Britain would be a better place if such ideas took hold and were celebrated year after year.
In all the years since its original publication, A Christmas Carol has never been out of print. It has been adapted into plays, musicals and movies. And I would say that Mr. Dickens accomplished his goal- we have our traditions in place and A Christmas Carol is one of them. I fully agree with Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one."
