Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was published on this day in 1843, a heartwarming (and simultaneously very dark) story about one Ebenezer Scrooge and his journey from a joy-hating elderly crank to a generous and thoughtful individual. All it took was several horrifying encounters with ghosts shaming him about his past behavior and warning him that if he wasn't kinder, his afterlife would be perpetually miserable.
We won't recap the whole story here because most people know a lot about it. What many people don't understand is the poverty shown in the novella was very realistic. In the 1840s children were working in factories and mines all across the United Kingdom, including many who weren't even 10 years old but had already spent half of their lives doing manual labor. Dickens himself was familiar with those circumstances, having been forced to work in a factory at just 12 years old after his father was sent to debtor's prison.
Dickens was a popular author, and he wanted to use his renown to make a difference. In that way, "A Christmas Carol" wasn't just a story about personal redemption — it was an effort to ensure kids could actually be kids.
You can read more about the background of "A Christmas Carol" at the website of the publisher Penguin Books.
