A Christmas Carol

“A Christmas Carol” with the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is arguably the most beloved story by Charles Dickens. According to one account, Dickens made sure to keep his food unique on days he read the book to audiences. Breakfast was rum mixed with cream, at teatime he would have champagne, before reading he would drink sherry mixed with a raw egg, and during readings he would have beef tea.

Image: “Dickens’ Christmas Carol: Scrooge Dreams” by Arthur Rackham (1915). From the New York Public Library, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection