Christmas has long held a special place in classic literature, symbolising themes of redemption, generosity, family, and spiritual renewal. From the Victorian era to early 20th-century novels, authors have used the holiday to highlight both the joys and the struggles of the human condition. Among the most iconic depictions of Christmas is Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), which has shaped much of our modern understanding of the holiday.
Prior to the arrival of Christianity in northern Europe, a twelve-day mid-winter “Yule” festival was celebrated, beginning the traditions of using evergreen plants like mistletoe, holly and ivy for decorations, and the burning of the yule log. With the introduction of the Julian calendar, this festival was fixed on 25th December and was combined with Christian celebrations to create the twelve days of what we now call Christmas.
Re-inventing Christmas
The Victorian era saw the re-invention of Christmas in Britain. When Queen Victoria’s reign began in 1837, the celebration of Christmas was in decline. Nobody in Britain had heard of Santa Claus; Christmas cards and crackers had not been thought of; and most people were not allowed the time off from work or had the money with which to buy gifts or extra food – but this all began to change.
The wealth generated by the new factories and industries now gave middle class families the opportunity to take time off work and celebrate the festive season over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The advent of the railways also allowed the country folk, who had moved into the towns and cities in search of work, to return home for a family Christmas.
Children’s toys that used to be handmade and expensive were suddenly made more affordable through mass-production in factories. However, they were still too expensive for working families and the poor, whose Christmas stockings, (which first became popular around 1870), would contain only an apple, orange and a few nuts, or maybe a small home-made gift.
Food was a major part of the festivities. In northern England roast beef was the traditional fare for Christmas dinner while in London and the south, goose was favoured. Many of the poor had to make do with rabbit. It wasn’t until the end of the century that most people had turkey for their Christmas dinner.
The introduction of a national postal service in 1840 (the “Penny Post”) paved the way for the sending of Christmas cards. The first Christmas card was created in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, a wealthy British businessman, who wanted a card that he could send to friends and professional acquaintances to wish them a “Merry Christmas”.
In 1846, Tom Smith, a London sweet maker, made the first Christmas cracker. The original idea was to wrap his sweets in a twist of fancy coloured paper, but he found that they were more popular when he added mottos, paper hats and small toys; and especially when he devised a way to make the parcel open with a bang!
A Royal Celebration
Queen Victoria loved celebrating Christmas, which she described as a “most dear happy time”. With nine children, her Christmases became great family occasions and many of the royal Christmas traditions were described in her personal diaries and in the newspapers of the day. These traditions included decorated trees, the sending of cards, a lavish family meal, and taking gifts to the poor. It was Queen Charlotte (Queen Victoria’s grandmother, and wife of George III) who brought the German tradition of Christmas trees to England, and they were a feature of Victoria’s Christmas festivities from childhood.
And for those less fortunate?
The Victorian era was one of stark contrasts, and Christmas was no exception. For the very poor, the passing of the Christmas season made little difference to their lives.
Following the example set by Queen Victoria, it became fashionable amongst the Victorian middle-classes to give “alms” to the poor (which is what the businessmen are trying to organise with Scrooge on page seventeen). The custom of giving gifts and food to the poor on Boxing Day (26th December) was also revived in this period, when the churches opened their alms boxes and distributed money to the poor.
For those without employment or homes of their own, the workhouse provided the venue for Christmas celebrations. In the era of the parish workhouse, prior to 1834, Christmas Day meant a treat for most of the residents. However, with the advent of union workhouses set up by the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, no extra food was to be allowed on Christmas Day (or any other feast day). Despite that, Christmas Day was one of the special days when the workhouse inmates rested. It took six years for the rules to be revised to allow extra treats – but only if they came from private sources and not from union funds. A change in the ruling seven years later, in 1847, finally allowed the provision of Christmas extras from the workhouse funds.
With the exception of the very poor, Victorian Christmases were a time of celebration, and of families gathering together with the prospect of a feast (however small) and entertainment - all of which is captured in the most famous “Christmas Book” of all time.
A Christmas Carol
Dickens’s first “Christmas Book”, the best loved and most read of all of his books, began life as seeds planted in Dickens’s mind during his travels around England, where he saw children working in appalling conditions. His belief that education was a remedy for crime and poverty, along with scenes he had recently witnessed at the Field Lane Ragged School, made Dickens resolve to “strike a sledge hammer blow” for the poor.
As the idea for the story took shape and the writing began in earnest, Dickens became engrossed in the book. He later wrote that as the tale unfolded, he: “wept and laughed, and wept again” and that “thinking whereof he walked about the black streets of London fifteen or twenty miles many a night when all of the sober folks had gone to bed.”
A Christmas Carol took just six weeks to complete, and the book was published on 17th December 1843. It was an overwhelming success, selling over five-thousand copies by Christmas Eve.
It is a book of enduring appeal that, due in no small part to the era of its release, has for many people become part of the festival of Christmas itself, and is one of the best-loved Christmas stories in the world.
A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel
Script Adaptation: Seán Michael Wilson
Pencils: Mike Collins
Inks: David Roach
Colouring: James Offredi
Lettering: Terry Wiley
You can download free sample pages from our Original Text A Christmas Carol here.