First Author Reading of A Christmas Carol in America

Blogger: Amber Schamel

Charles Dickens 1867

On this day, December 2nd, of 1867, Charles Dickens kicked off his first reading tour of The Christmas Carol in the United States. 

The Christmas Carol has become an iconic classic when it comes to Christmas stories, and the tale merits the success. Dickens originally published the work in England during December of 1863, however it was not until four years later that he traveled to the United States to promote the book. This was the first time he had been on a tour to the United States since 1842, and he was amazed at the growth of the nation's cities during his absence.

Dickens arrived in Boston on November 19th, and was taken to the Parker House for lodging. The hotel, at the time, was well-known and frequented by politicians and affluent personalities. Since his readings didn't begin until December 2, the author had time to recuperate from his long journey and meet with some friends and business contacts.  Dickens stayed at the Parker House for a total of five months, as he regaled adoring crowds with the reading of his Christmas tale. The hotel currently holds possession of the door to Dickens' guest room when he stayed in 1867 and the mirror used by him for rehearsals.

 The Parker House was the meeting place for a group called the Saturday Club. This club was composed of historians, philosophers, writers, scientists, and other notable thinkers of the day, and they would gather monthly for food and conversation. It was to this group that Dicken's first reading of The Christmas Carol was performed on December 2. You can imagine how nervous he must have been to perform his work before such an esteemed group of individuals. 

Parker House as it would have looked when Dickens stayed there.

 By the time Dickens finished his United States tour, he had conducted 423 paid readings, which proved to be a lucrative trip for him. While his gross tour income of £45,000 had a lot of expenses taken out of it, he did end up with about £19,000 to take to the bank. According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, this would translate to over two million British pounds in today's money. That doesn't count the amount he made from the actual sale of books.

How many of you plan to make The Christmas Carol part of your holiday season this year?

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Amber Schamel is the author of Solve by Christmas, and the two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction. She writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. Her passions for travel, history, books and her Savior results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  She lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado as a very happy newlywed. Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

Be a Tree Fad of the 1900's

Whoever said history was boring, must not have researched very long. I can't tell you how many times I have come across some of the most interesting, random and comical things while researching for a story or article. Since holiday decorating is now in full swing, I thought I'd share one of my favorites.

Christmas decorations haven't always been the way they are today. So when I was writing a Christmas story set in the early 1900's, I had to do a little bit of research and see what kinds of decorations were popular at that time period. It was just during the emergence of Christmas lights, so those were yet sparse. But I did run across one method of Christmas decorating that took me completely off guard.

Most of us are familiar with the couture and fashions of the holiday season. From the simple and elegant black dress, to the ugly sweaters, to those new holiday outfits that we love to shop for, fashion has been as much a part of Christmas as turkey and eggnog. However, some of these fashions are more...shall we say...interesting, than others.

It seems that during this Edwardian, Titanic era, folks had a fascination with dressing up in Christmas tree costumes. And some of the costumes are very authentic, if nothing else.The Christmas tree during this era had a lot of tinsel and a lot of homemade ornaments. The days of pretty, uniform, professional looking ornaments was not yet upon us, and only businesses or the more astute citizens would have lights on their trees. So perhaps the people were seeking a way to make the Christmas tree more exciting and full of life. What better way to do that than to actually BE a Christmas tree?!

While I was unable to find any particular reason or history behind this fad, I did find numerous pictures. From children, to full grown women, it seems that people of all ages joined in on the idea.

My best guess is this fad was much like the "ugly sweater" contests of today. The embarrassment and oddness of the costumes became part of the game, and part of what made it "cool" and festive.

Photos source: vintag.es.com

What do you think...would you dress up as a Christmas Tree for your next holiday party?

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  She lives in Colorado and spends half her time volunteering in the Ozarks. Check out Solve by Christmas on Amazon for a great holiday read.

 

Denver and Detectives with Giveaway

Blogger: Amber Schamel

Denver Detective Ad from the 1930's

When I decided to write a Christmas mystery, I had no idea I would end up placing it in Denver, Colorado, even though I was raised in the suburbs of that city. But research has a delicious way of making story plots stronger, and sometimes steering the direction of your story to all new adventures.

Well, since I was writing about a detective, I figured we might as well start at the golden age – at the very emergence of the profession. So that is where my research began. The P.I. profession began to take precedence in America during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. What caused such a great need for a new profession such as Private Investigators and Detectives is a post in and of itself. For now we will suffice it to say that in the aftermath of the Civil War, someone needed to combat the rising number of Al Capone types in our nation.

James McParland
Pinkerton Detective, Denver

I hadn’t researched very far when Colorado began popping up. Interestingly enough, Colorado was big for detective work in the early days, but not for the same reason as Chicago. One of the first Pinkerton offices was stationed in Denver, directed by the infamous James McParland. The FBI also opened an office there in the early 1900’s. According to the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado, “Those of you familiar with downtown Denver may not yet fully realize that there were literally hundreds of Private Detectives shadowing and watching the activities of WFM (Western Federation of Miners) officials, friends and visitors…” in popular Denver locations.

Wait…Detectives watching every move of the officers of mining companies? In Denver? This caught my attention. If there’s hundreds of detectives, why aren’t they watching the crooks, the Al Capones instead of the business men?

The article on PPIA continues, “During the first Decade of the 20th Century (specifically 1899 to 1907) Denver Colorado was at the epicenter of a deadly dangerous battle between American Labor and Capital.” It was this tidbit that brought an exciting new element to my Solve by Christmas detective story—The Colorado labor wars.

Cartoon comparing the Colorado labor wars to Russo-Japanese war.

The labor wars fueled the need for detectives in Denver and contributed to their success. Why? Because as one historian put it, "There is no episode in American labor history in which violence was as systematically used by employers as in the Colorado labor war of 1903 and 1904." Violence, plotting, spying…all of this was a part of the deadly and seditious labor wars in Colorado. Companies would hire detectives to ferret out troublemakers, members of societies and unions; while unions and other organizations had their own spies, infiltrators and even assassins. Colorado’s need for justice was not the same as Chicago’s, so being a detective in Chicago verses in Denver would have been vastly different, but the industry flourished just the same.

With these facts in mind, I decided to place my story within this setting. The next challenge would be lightening the heavy and dangerous backdrop enough to make a suitable Christmas story…but again, that is a post for a different time and place. 😉

Have you ever discovered a surprising fact about your home state? Tell me what it is to be entered in a drawing for an ebook copy of Solve by Christmas! 

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Schamel writes riveting stories that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  She lives in Colorado and spends half her time volunteering in the Ozarks. Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberSchamel.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!