A Christmas Carol Day
Christmas Arts Canon III (Dickens’s Charity Day)
The Third of Four Days Devoted to Canonical Christmas Works
About A Christmas Carol Day
A Christmas Carol Day honors Charles Dickens’s eponymous masterpiece, a work so central to the holiday season that its influence runs through nearly every corner of Christmas culture. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from miser to merrymaker reminds us of the power of redemption. Key moments—Scrooge’s terrifying encounter with Marley’s ghost, his bittersweet journey through Christmas Past’s visions of lost innocence, and his heartfelt redemption after glimpsing his bleak future—are etched in the memory of all who encounter the tale. Read the original text, watch a theatrical production, or enjoy one of its many film adaptations; each offers a chance to reflect on the story’s themes of compassion and second chances.
Ways to observe
(A) Low effort
Read aloud a favorite passage from A Christmas Carol, such as Scrooge’s revelation on Christmas morning or his heartwarming visit to the Cratchits.
(B) Recommended
Watch a classic or modern adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Whether it’s the 1951 Alastair Sim version, the Muppets’ musical take, or something animated and whimsical, choose a version that resonates with you and enjoy the story’s powerful message.
(C) High effort
Host a Dickensian Christmas party. Dress in Victorian attire, serve traditional dishes like roast goose or figgy pudding, and read or act out scenes from the novella. Include games like charades or parlor songs to capture the spirit of 19th-century festivities.
Inspiration
“Marley was dead: to begin with.” One of the greatest opening lines in a novel, much less one set at Christmas. Even the characters’ names have a brilliant aptness to them. Scrooge, Cratchit. They’re so deeply inscribed in our consciousness it feels as if Dickens tapped into an ancient Christmas myth just waiting to be written down. Even the minor figures—Mrs. Dilber, Topper—are classically Dickensian. They live in their phonemes as much as their character arcs. And of course, there’s “Bah! Humbug!”, a phrase so compact and curmudgeonly it has become its own kind of seasonal punctuation. The story defines the meaning of Christmas across three temporal dimensions, and the language is divine. How astonishing that it was written in just six weeks.
Dickens was writing with purpose. He’d seen the consequences of poverty, especially for children, and he hoped this story might do what pamphlets and political speeches could not: incline people toward generous action. And it worked. A Christmas Carol was an immediate success, praised for its moral clarity and dramatic flair. It reshaped how the Victorians—and eventually much of the Western world—thought about Christmas. Suddenly, the season was not just sacred but social and warm. Dickens didn’t invent Christmas as we know it, but he gave it its emotional architecture: redemption, charity, feasting, family, and ghosts. No matter how many times you revisit it, in whatever form, Dickens’s language still sings and the story still inspires.
Adornments
Watch
Scrooge (1951)
Often considered the definitive screen adaptation of A Christmas Carol, this British production stars Alastair Sim as a convincingly bitter yet ultimately redeemed Ebenezer Scrooge. Shot in moody black-and-white, it emphasizes the ghost story elements of Dickens’s novella without losing the redemptive warmth.
Scrooged (1988)
A darkly comic modern retelling of Dickens’s tale, with Bill Murray as a cynical TV executive who is haunted by Christmas ghosts. The film transposes Scrooge’s journey of redemption to 1980s New York.
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
A biographical drama that follows Charles Dickens (played by Dan Stevens) during the frantic six weeks in which he wrote A Christmas Carol.
Listen
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland
Written during World War II, its original lyrics were darker, hinting at separation and uncertainty. But even in its softened version, there’s an ache beneath the cheer.
Read
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey from a cold-hearted miser to a man transformed by ghostly visitations and the revelation of human compassion.
Marley by Jon Clinch
A darkly engrossing novel that serves as a prequel to A Christmas Carol, delving into the unscrupulous partnership of Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley. Clinch imagines Marley’s life in rich detail, from his schoolboy meeting with Scrooge to years of ruthless business dealings in London’s underbelly.