Charles
Dickens was already an international celebrity author, even before he
wrote his most famous story of all: A
Christmas Carol.
But even though he was a famous and popular author, he fought with
his publisher about publication of the novella. He ended up financing
the publication at his own expense—and he didn't stint, using
“lavish” binding, gilt edging, and hand-colored illustrations. He
set the selling price low enough so that everyone could afford it.
And then (surprise, surprise) he ended up getting a lot less profit
than he needed or wanted from the project.
Still,
although the money from publishing his book was disappointing, A
Christmas Carol
was a success in every other way. The book's first printing was on
this date in 1843, and in just a few days the 6,000 printed copies
sold out. Critics loved it, and the buying public loved it, and by
May of the following year, a seventh edition had sold out.
The
book has never been out of print since, and it has been adapted to
film, stage, radio, television, and other media many times over.
It
has been translated into nearly every language.
It has been
Muppetized, Disneyfied, and even Flintstoned; it has been parodied,
prequeled, and sequeled; it has been made into a musical and a ballet
and even an opera.
By
the way, would it surprise you to know that Dickens wrote A
Christmas Carol
in just six weeks?
Reinventing
Christmas...
Dickens
helped change the way people saw Christmas. Before the Victorian era,
Christmas celebrations among Christians were often no more than mass
at church and as grand a meal with the family as one could afford.
Children would get an apple or orange in their stocking as a special
treat. Many businesses didn't give workers the day off—it wasn't
just Scrooge who made employees work on Christmas!
But
spearheaded by Dickens's novella, Christmas became more of a
society-wide holiday (in countries that were predominantly
Christian). It became a time of families getting together to share
meals, dance, and “make merry.” It became a time of giving to the
poor, and gift-giving generally moved from a New Year's thing to a
Christmas thing. Christmas cards were just starting to be seen, and
Christmas trees were about to jump from unknown to popular in
English- speaking countries. Decorations became more elaborate.
According
to the BBC's “Victorian Christmas”:
While
Charles Dickens did not invent the Victorian Christmas, his book A
Christmas Carol is
credited with helping to popularise and spread the traditions of the
festival. Its themes of family, charity, goodwill, peace and
happiness encapsulate the spirit of the Victorian Christmas, and are
very much a part of the Christmas we celebrate today.
Some
scholars, however, give Dickens more credit for, not just
popularizing and spreading ideas, but creating ideas in the first
place. Ronald Hutton and others say that Charles Dickens
“single-handedly invented the modern form of the holiday.” People were moved by the story to give money to poor people and to
crippled children. A factory owner in the United States was so moved
that he closed his factory on Christmas Day and gave every employee a
turkey—and this practice spread.
Of
course, A
Christmas Carol
also gave us “Bah, humbug!”
Also
on this date:
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