Category: Blogmas

Weekend Reads: “Marley’s Ghost”

I went into the Wayback Machine for this week’s review, as I wanted to share something seasonal.

Marley's GhostMarley’s Ghost by Mark Hazard Osmun
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mark Hazard Osmun brings us an imaginative look at the life of Jacob Marley before his appearance in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

This book is not for the faint of heart; there are accurate descriptions of life’s miseries for child laborers, coal miners and the poor in pre-Industrial Revolution England. We see Marley go in turns from being a loving brother to a thief to a gambler … and ultimately to Scrooge’s miserly mentor.

This book is well-researched for period detail and brings us an evocative (if not always compassionate) new look at Marley’s character. Those who enjoy the Dickens tale are sure to like the new look at an unwilling change agent.

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How we stayed in touch: communication through history – The History Quill

The subject of communication is central to understanding society through the ages. With the success of telegraph technology of the 1840s and the creation of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, the Victorians had various methods for staying in touch.

At this point, we can’t ignore the creation of festive greetings. In 1843 Henry Cole created the Christmas card as a time-saving measure which solved the problem of unanswered mail during the busy festive period. Coupled with the creation of the Uniformed Penny Postage, the sending of decorated visiting cards and letterheads over the festive season was introduced but did not gain traction due to high costs. Christmas postal greetings gained wide success in the 1870s, largely due to Prince Albert’s introduction of German Christmas traditions, as well as the popularity of the halfpenny postage and changes in printing.

How we stayed in touch: communication through history – The History Quill