News — 1950s

Christmas is coming and we’re looking at the classic film Scrooge to get in the mood; no one ever said ‘Bah, humbug’ better than Alastair Sim, says James Oliver... Since its publication back in 1843, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has (probably) done more to shape attitudes to Christmas than anything else, in the UK and US at least. It’s not that Dickens invented what we now think of as ancient traditions, although he certainly codified them. Rather, it’s the emphasis he placed on the magic of Christmas – not magic of the supernatural sort, even though his tale is...