Early in 1843, as a response to a government report on the abuse of child laborers in mines and factories, Dickens vowed he would strike a "sledge-hammer blow . . . on behalf of the Poor Man's Child." That sledge-hammer was A Christmas Carol.
It only took Dickens about six weeks to write A Christmas Carol. A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843. Initially six thousand copies of the book were printed. More copies were ordered after the first printing was sold in only five days.
At the time Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, Christmas wasn't commonly celebrated as a festive holiday. In A Christmas Carol, Dickens' descriptions of feasting, games and family unity combined with his message that Christmas was a time "when want is keenly felt and abundance rejoices" helped revive popular interest in many Christmas traditions that are still practiced today.
In 1867, Dickens read A Christmas Carol at a public reading in Chicago. One of the audience members , Mr. Fairbanks, was a scale manufacturer. Mr. Fairbanks was so moved that he decided to "break the custom we have hitherto observed of opening the works on Christmas day." Not only did he close the factory on Christmas day, but he gave Christmas turkeys to all of his employees.
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