Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas!

(You can't beat John Leech's illustration of Fezziwig's Ball for Christmas spirit)

Maybe It Stands for Johnny?

So, I was watching the 1938 MGM version of "A Christmas Carol" again, as I do every holiday season.

This time, however, I noticed that TCM had the Descriptive Video Service option for the move, so I turned it on, as I think it's kind of an interesting way to watch (hear) something you've seen before.

I raise my hand to admit that I never noticed, until the narrator mentioned it, that the sign for Fezziwig's warehouse has the first initial of "J" included?

I spend so much time nitpicking the movie that I guess I just have overlooked it all these years!

So, what does it stand for?

Peppery!

More salt and pepper, this time featuring Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwg:

At least I think this says Mrs. Fezziwig:

Looks good!

Impulse Buy?

Since I missed not hearing Fezziwig on that "Caltex Theater" show, I went looking around for that gentleman and came across this:

It's shaving soap made with fig and cranberry!

More info at this website: Black Ship Grooming Co.

Of course, having OSD, I tempted to buy some!

More Spirited!

This ad from 1940 shows us why Fezziwig was so jolly:

Aha!

The Secret!

 So, now we know why old Fezziwig's Christmas parties were so merry:

Not judging!

Friendly!

Another fun game one can play on one's phone is the popular Words with Friends (2).

One regular feature of the game is the Solo Challenge, where you work your way up through a series of increasingly difficult computer opponents.

For this holiday season, the Challenge had "A Christmas Carol" for the theme! 

Here's a look at the ladder:

Kind of an interesting mix of representations there! Martha Cratchit seems the most traditional and she actually seems to function as Mrs. Cratchit.

I did eventually defeat Scrooge, by the way!

Merry Christmas!

Fezziwig?

So, this cover by Normal Rockwell from "The Saturday Evening Post" issue of December, 8, 1928 is Mr. & Mrs. Fezziwig, right?

Must be!

"If I Were King..." - Stave Two

Now we move on to Stave Two with what I feel are the necessary ingredients for a cohesive short-form version of "A Christmas Carol."

I think the Ghost of Christmas Past should make its appearance fairly quickly. Don't need too much about Scrooge waiting until the hour of 1:00 a.m. then wondering what day it is.

I do like the idea of the ghost pulling back Scrooge's bed curtains, as they figure in Staves Four and Five. 

Scrooge and the spirit should get to the schoolhouse quickly with the spirit doing the heavy lifting of expository dialogue.

We just need to know that Scrooge was lonely as a boy and have him recall the kid whom he chased away rather than letting him sing and giving him something. I want Scrooge to learn a clear lesson from each shadow of the past.

Next we need Fan to visit the somewhat older Scrooge at the school. This is necessary to make Scrooge realize that he should be nicer to Fred, the one link to his late sister.

We don't need a lot of time at Fezziwig's, but throw in a Dick Wilkins reference and tell us what a good time everyone had at the party. Have the spirit needle Scrooge until he realizes that he should also give Bob Cratchit more consideration.

These first three shadows all make Scrooge think about how he had treated people on Christmas Eve and sets him on the road to being nicer.

Next up comes the breakup with Belle. This is important because it shows Scrooge what he lost by pursuing money over love. That being said, I want the scene of Belle's later domestic bliss included to really bring the point home.

All of these scenes can be edited quite a bit. It may seem like the story is going by fast, but I can deal with that.

"The Christmas Books" (1900?) - Kyd

The Christmas Books (1900?)

Illustrator: J. C. "Kyd" Clarke

A while back (in this post) I had shared a cigarette card from a  series of "Characters from Dickens" as illustrated by Joseph Clayton Clarke, known professionally as "Kyd."

The only card from that series that featured a character from "A Christmas Carol" was number 35, which was Scrooge.

But... it turns out that image was taken from a larger set of Dickens characters from "The Christmas Books" which I think are from about 1900 and may have been published by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Whatever the case, we have these six to enjoy:

The selection of characters is interesting. They seem to be the major male characters from the book (Marley having been male while alive) with Peter Cratchit having made the cut over Fred.

Peter looks a little crazy, perhaps overwhelmed by the honor?

And I do need to say that I think Tiny Tim looks like a short adult more than sickly child!

And is Bob's last name Cratchett?

But they're a lot of fun!

"A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team - Day 3

We continue through Christmas Past as we meet the next character for our All-Star Team: Old Fezziwig!

The sheer joy of Christmas as embodied in Scrooge's old boss has never been captured better than it was right at the beginning with this color plate by John Leech from the first edition of "A Christmas Carol" in 1843:

An easy pick to represent both Fezziwig and the original book!

"A Christmas Carol" Ornaments - Wilton Armetale (2000-2008)

We were just looking at the series of pewter collector's plates issued by Wilton Aremetale in the 2000s. As promised, here's what I could dig up for the corresponding ornaments.

Must keep hunting to add to my virtual collection!

"A Christmas Carol" Plates - Wilton Armetale (2000-2008)

"A Christmas Carol" Plates (2000-2008) 
Wilton Armetale (Lancaster, PA)

We jump ahead to another series of plates with depictions of scenes from "A Christmas Carol" issued by Wilton Armetale from 2000-2008.

I was going to say that this is a recent set, until I realized that the first issue came out 20 years ago!

In any event, these are different from the usual collector plates in that they're made of pewter!
This gives them a totally different look.

Also, they had corresponding ornaments issued the same year as each plate. Or at least I think they did, but I can't be totally sure.

I also was unable to track down an image of the 2006 plate, but I could find the 2006 ornament!

The ornaments represent the same theme as the corresponding plate, but are not exactly the same image, so we can get at least an idea of what the 2006 plate looks like.

So, without further ado, here's what I could muster up:

Pretty cool!

Here's a look at the back of one of the plates:

What intrigues me is the little sticker:

It reads "Safe for cooking and serving food and beverages." Did/do people actually eat off of the likes of these?

Next: the "other" ornaments...

"A Christmas Carol" Christmas Plates - Aynsley China Limited (1979-1982)

"A Christmas Carol" Christmas Plates (1979-1982)
Artist: Lawrence Woodhouse
Aynsley Cina Limited (Staffordshire England)

We haven't looked at any collector plates in a while, so here's a set of scenes from "A Christmas Carol" issued annually between 1979 and 1982 by Aynsley China:

I always find it interesting to see which scenes are depicted in whatever medium is being used, especially when there's a small number such as the four in this series.

Hard to argue with this selection, as these scenes are all iconic. Funny that they're not in chronological order, though!

I will say that the Aynsley company, founded by John Aynsley in Staffordshire England in 1775 sounds so quintessentially British to me that they were totally qualified to issue a Dickens set of collector plates!

The Name Game!

While checking out those early stage adaptations of "A Christmas Carol," it seemed as if the adaptors were pretty keen on giving every character a name, even if they were not named in the book and were also not called by name in the play itself.

This reminded me of the interesting literary device used by Charles Dickens in the book by which the omniscient "narrator" only tells us the name of a few of the characters. A few others are called by name by another character, at which point the narrator might start using the names. Still others are never named at all.

I'll explain what I mean for each of those as the book moves along...

The book famously begins with us being told that "Marley was dead: to begin with" then adds "Scrooge knew he was dead." So, right away we know there was a Mr. Marley and there is a Mr. Scrooge.

We only learn their first names, however, from Marley's Ghost. The ghost refers to formerly being Jacob Marley and addresses said Jacob Marley's former partner as Ebenezer Scrooge.

The only other character who addresses Scrooge as "Ebenezer" is Fezziwig. Neither Fan nor Belle calls him by name and nobody else is on a first name basis with him anyway! Even Fred just calls him "Uncle" and Fred's sister-in-law refers to him as "your Uncle Scro-o-o-o-oge."

The only other reference to Scrooge's first name is his full name showing on his future gravestone. The narrator says Scrooge a zillion times, but never Ebenezer except for the grave thing.

In the Christmas Past sequence, the narrator doesn't tell us anyone's name, but we learn a few from other characters

Young Scrooge calls his sister "Little Fan" a couple of times. Fan's not really a name, but we never learn whether or not it's a nickname and what her actual name is. I'm guessing Frances? Just don't try to tell me it's Fran!

Scrooge identifies old Fezziwig and Dick Wilkins and Fezziwig calls Dick by his first name, otherwise we don't know anybody else's name, including the first names of Mrs. Fezziwig and the three Fezziwig daughters.

Scrooge never says the name of his former fiancée, but her husband calls her "Belle," which may or may not be her actual given name. It could be a pet name. Is that why her name gets changed a lot in various adaptations?

In the Christmas Present section, the narrator does tell us Bob Cratchit's full name. We did not learn his name in the opening scenes, although he's a major presence.

Most curious to me is that the narrator tells us the full names of  Belinda Cratchit and Master Peter Cratchit rather than having another character call them by name first. Mrs. Cratchit (whose own first name is not revealed) namechecks Martha and Tiny Tim, which is how we learn their names. The two other Cratchit kids are never directly addressed by another character and the narrator does not name them.

Similarly, we only learn that Scrooge's nephew's name is Fred when his wife calls him that. We don't know his last name, but it would be that of Fan's husband, so it's not Scrooge. Fred calls Topper by name and that's the end of it. We never learn the name of Fred's wife or her plump sister, other sister or anyone else at the party. Just Fred and Topper, and even then is "Topper" his first name, last name or a nickname?

Scrooge does call Fred by his first name when he comes for Christmas dinner. Previous to that, he had only called him "Nephew."

Moving to Christmas Yet to Come, the charwoman calls old Joe and Mrs. Dilber by name, but nobody says her name, nor that of the undertaker's man. We also don't know the names of any of Scrooge's former business acquaintances.

The man who is relieved that Scrooge died so that he'll have additional time to pay off his loan calls his wife "Caroline" a couple of times, but she does not say his name.

And I think that's it! No one else gets a name!

Let's recap the characters with names:

Full Name:
Jacob Marley
Ebenezer Scrooge
Dick Wilkins
Bob Cratchit
Belinda Cratchit
Peter Cratchit
Tim Cratchit
Martha Cratchit

First Name Only:
Fred
Old Joe
Caroline

Last Name Only:
Old Fezziwig
Mrs. Fezziwig
Three Miss Fezziwigs
Mrs. Cratchit
Young Boy and Girl Cratchit
Mrs. Dilber

Undetermined and/or Possible Nicknames:
Fan (Last name Scrooge)
Belle
Topper

I'm not enough of a scholar to know how common of a literary device this is or even if Charles Dickens himself used it frequently, but I find it fascinating.

Carry on!

Merry Christmas!

Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits. (Part 2!)

Now the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on a journey to the past. They're there strictly as "shadows," so they can't interact with anyone or change anything that's already happened.

I've broken down five distinct periods and/or events that the spirit shows Scrooge in the book. The various adaptations always include some of these, but it's rare to see them all. Each offers its own insights.

First, we go back to the town where Scrooge attended boarding school. He's excited to see it once again. However, when they go inside the schoolhouse and see the lonely young Ebenezer, he weeps. He compares himself as a boy to the caroler that he chased away, so he's already learning a lesson!

An interesting little touch that occasionally pops up is that Scrooge sees the characters from the books that the young Ebenezer is reading (Ali Baba, Robinson Crusoe, etc.). Old Scrooge is excited to see them!

The next image is Scrooge growing and the same school getting older. He had been a boy, but now seems to be perhaps a teenager. He's visited by his "much younger" sister Fan, who has come to take Scrooge home because their father is kinder these days. No mention at all of their mother. Scrooge loved his sister very much.

The spirit reminds Scrooge that his nephew is Fan's son. Something else for Scrooge to think about.

Sometime later, Scrooge is now an apprentice with Fezziwig. He sees another version of his younger self, a little bit older, along with his fellow apprentice, Dick Wilkins. We only see Dick in this one sequence, but Scrooge says, "Poor Dick! Dear, dear!" which has always made me wonder what happened to him. Fezziwig is apparently deceased in the "present," as Scrooge exclaims, "It's Fezziwig alive again." Presumably Fezziwig had passed away from natural causes, as he was quite a bit older than Scrooge.

In any event, Fezziwig throws an awesome Christmas party, vividly described by Dickens. And through it all, present day Scrooge has a blast reliving it!

The spirit needles Scrooge a bit about whether Fezziwig is so great, which makes Scrooge realize that he's rather un-Fezziwig-like to his own employee! So, he's learning some lessons!

Next we get another version of young Scrooge, perhaps now in business for himself. Whatever the case, he's now consumed with the pursuit of wealth. This change does not sit well with his fiancée, who releases Scrooge from his promise. Present-day Scrooge certainly does not look upon this as a fond memory and the spirit has to restrain him in order to show him one more vision.

One thing to note is that, in the book, the fiancée comes out of nowhere. In so many adaptations, we see her interact with Scrooge at Fezziwig's ball. It's another one of those things that's so common, you would think it's in the original text. Definitely not, though!

The last sequence we encounter from the past is not actually one of Scrooge's own memories. From here on, everything he sees with this ghost and the others is new to him.

This last one takes place seven years earlier, on the night that Marley died. It shows Scrooge's former fiancée now married with a family. Scrooge catches on that this is something he missed out on, especially the oldest daughter (whom Dickens himself practically drools over!), who might have been "a spring-time in the haggard winter of his life" - great line!

The actual husband/father calls Scrooge's former fiancée "Belle" just one time, but naturally that gets retconned in the various versions where Scrooge sees her at Fezziwig's party. Is Belle her name or is her husband calling her by a pet name? We may never know!

Scrooge is getting more agitated and really does not like Belle and her husband pitying him. He gets so mad that he extinguishes the ghost with its cap and falls back asleep. Did the spirit have any other visions lined up?

One thing mentioned in the book that is seldom picked up on is that Scrooge sees all the faces the spirit has shown him in the spirit's face right before he extinguishes it. Another tough trick to pull off in live action.

Scrooge's past is an important part of the story, so these sequences get a lot of play in the various adaptations, but, as mentioned before, there are a lot of variations and many added twists.

There really are four distinct young Scrooges, but it's not common to have four different actors for each scene. It's no doubt much easier to cast a couple of actors and use them as necessary to show Scrooge aging.

Now that we're done with past, what's happening in the present?