The Real Christmas Spirit!

Here's another interesting ad, this one from 1965, also purporting to show what Scrooge really needed to make him happy:

Is it working? Well, this one's from 1967:

Hey, if that doesn't get him going, nothing will!

Very Much So!

OK, in the true spirit of randomness, here's a wacky card (I think) of the Cratchit Christmas dinner:

I don't remember where I got the image or what the context was, but... Fun!

Is That All It Took?

Check out these ads from the early 1970s:

Who knew all Scrooge needed was a comfy chair? Could've saved Marley's Ghost a lot of work!

Makeup!

Here's a still from MGM's 1938 production of "A Christmas Carol":

The effect of Leo G. Carroll as Marley's Ghost looks good, but you can really see that Reginald Owen is wearing a ton of makeup! It kind of ends at his chin, leaving his neck un-made-up!

Mr. Barrymore!

Here's an interesting public service advertisement for U.S. Savings Bonds from the December 1957 issue of "Popular Science":

Interesting that Lionel Barrymore had passed away three years earlier in 1954 but was still casting a shadow!

Blooper!

We have a lot of "Jingle Bells" to cover, so I'm going to intersperse some random Scrooge/"A Christmas Carol" stuff in between as not to get to far away from things!

For example, did you ever notice the blooper near the end of "Scrooge" (1951) starring Alastair Sim?

It occurs after Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning and looks in a mirror a couple of times. Each time you can see some crew member or somebody in the mirror:

Fun!

Random Scrooge Image Department

Here's a random image of Scrooge I came across:

Don't know the origin, but I dig it!

"Make That Money (Scrooge's Song)" - Alice Cooper (1982)

"Make That Money (Scrooge's Song)" (1982)
Alice Cooper
Warner Brothers

Also from the not-my-area-of-expertise and as something of a follow-up to yesterday's song, we have Alice Cooper singing about the still-unrepentant Scrooge:

Actually pretty catchy!

I still feel more at home in 1945, though!

"Scrooge" - Little Roy (1970)

"Scrooge" (1970)
Little Roy 
Camel

Here's an interesting track from 1970 - Little Roy singing about an apparently unrepentant Scrooge:

I'm not a reggae buff, but I think this has a good groove.

Does that mean it's bad?

Random Scrooge Reference Department

OK, before I get stuck in 1946, we need a random contemporary Scrooge reference:

Thanks, Archiverse!

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

"The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories" (1945)

Bobbs-Merrill Company

Editor: Edward Wagenknecht

Illustrator: Wallace Morgan

We now land in 1945 for a look at "The Fireside Book of Christmas Stories," which lives up to its name by including a lot of Christmas stories.

One of the stories is "A Christmas Carol," and like each of the other stories, it gets one illustration on its title page:

I like this illustration by Wallace Morgan and wish there were more for this story!

This book is about 700 pages long, so there's room for plenty of material. You'd think that the inclusion of "A Christmas Carol" would be a non-brainer, but that's not exactly the case!

Here's an excerpt from the introduction by editor Edward Wagenknecht:

Mr. Wagenknecht being a noted critic, his introduction reads like something of a critical essay. It kinda sounds like he's bowing to popular pressure by including "A Christmas Carol" in this book!

But critics gonna criticize!

Pierre Tchernia - "Un Conte De Noël" (1973)

"Un Conte De Noël" (1973)

Pierre Tchernia

Vogue Records

We leave the high art world for this interesting looking French record from 1973:

If my high school French still serves me, the title translates to "A Tale of Christmas" in English and it's raconté par (told by) Pierre Tchernia!

I'm not familiar with that gentleman, but he was apparently well-known in Franc over a long career in television and movies.

I'd like to hear the recording to get an idea of the production. and see how well I can follow the story.

Something else to keep an eye (or ear) out for!

"The Empty Chair" - Luke Fildes (1870)

Following up on "Dickens' Dream" by R.W. Buss, that painting was apparently inspired by the earlier "The Empty Chair," as painted by Luke Fildes in June 1870, shortly after the death of Charles Dickens:

Sir Samuel Luke Fildes (1843-1927) was a young artist working with Dickens on "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" when the author passed away, and the loss prompted the painting of the titular empty chair in Dickens's study.

To continue the story a bit, an engraving of the painting was published in "The Graphic" in 1882, which caught the eye of Vincent Van Gogh, an admirer of Dickens:

So, this led to Van Gogh's own "Chair" painting from 1888:

At least that's how I understand it, all of this being way over my head from an art world standpoint!

"Dickens' Dream" - R.W. Buss (1875)

I had mentioned that the two 1980s books we were just looking at each (seemingly coincidentally) included the same picture of Charles Dickens with their biographies of the author.

That picture is a well-known painting by British artist R.W. (Robert William) Buss entitled "Dickens' Dream":

It was an ambitious undertaking and was not finished when Mr. Buss passed away in 1875.

There are lots of characters from the works of Dickens included so naturally we look carefully to see if there are any represented from "A Christmas Carol."

And, indeed, in the top row, the last sketch on the right is Marley's Ghost visiting Scrooge:

This image seems familiar to me, but I can't think of the artist it swipes from off the top of my head. Something lese for me to think about!

A striking work, it's easy to see why this would pop up frequently when Charles Dickens is being discussed.