A Christmas Carole

First page of the original manuscript on display at the J P Morgan Library in New York City

'Marley was dead, to begin with.' With these iconic words one of the best known tales of the 19th century, and the best known of all the Christmas season began.  Charles Dicken's own Christmas gift to the world, his Christmas Carole.

My brother Jim and I didn't start our lives only reading this story, but also listening to it.  Our father made sure we heard British recording of it on our 1948 Magnavox automatic drop 78 rpm record player, (with am/shortwave radio receiver and accessory outlet for future television installation!). Dad would place all 6 of the records on the stacker above the turntable inside the heavy wooden record player cabinet and we would lie belly down and heads on palms facing the floor level cloth covered 16" speaker from the first mention of Marley straight through Tiny Tim's, "God bless us, everyone!".

Every Christmas our joy and anticipation of this family event, sometimes with grandparents joining our parents on surrounding chairs or sofa, was a high point of our season. This pleasure, along with the 11pm Christmas Eve service at Twenty Ninth Street Evangelical United Brethren Church, decorating the tree (I still remember the first year I got to help string lights), cookie baking and decorating with mom, baby Jesus' birthday with a candle lit cake (dad always got to eat Jesus' piece. Hmmm) and the Christmas morning presents themselves made Christmas for all of us in the DeWalt home at 740 South Twenty Ninth Street, Harrisburg, Pa..

I still try to see at least one movie version of the old tale every year.  My favorite is the 1930's Alistair Sims version of Scrooge.  Black and white and scratchy, just like those old 78 recordings.

Christmas is a time for traditions and eternal truths to be revisited.  Christmas Eve services, and Dicken's Christmas Carole, are two of my favorite ways of celebrating both.

-Ken