My Word with Douglas E. Welch

Christmas Past – 13 in a series – Hark! the Herald Angels Sing by Trinity Choir (1911)

Christmas Hymn; Mixed Voices with orchestra.

Digitized at 78 revolutions per minute. Four stylii were used to transfer this record. They are 3.8mil truncated conical, 2.3mil truncated conical, 2.8mil truncated conical, 3.3mil truncated conical.

Download and Listen to more on Archive.org

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 12 in a series – A visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore (1864)

Cover also serves as title page. No page numbers. Book is extremely fragile and most pages are loose-leaf. Text and pictures are printed to page edges.

Download and Read This Book On Archive.org

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 11 in a series – Farmer’s Wife 1927-12 by Annie Benson Müller

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 10 in a series – Scrooge (1935)

Scrooge is a 1935 British fantasy film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop and Robert Cochran. Hicks appears as Ebenezer Scrooge, the miser who hates Christmas. It was the first sound version of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, not counting a 1928 short subject that now appears to be lost. Hicks had previously played the role of Scrooge on the stage many times beginning in 1901, and again in a 1913 British silent film version.

IMDB

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 9 in a series – Vintage Christmas Cards from the New York Public Library Digital Collections

The very first Christmas cards were designed by Englishman John Callcott Horsley in 1843 at the behest of his friend, Sir Henry Cole. The seasonal mailers depicted a family sitting together at a table, with two images of them doing good deeds on either side. Of the 1000 that were printed, only a dozen have survived to this day. We’ve come a long way since then, and while cards with bells, whistles, tinsel, audio, and lights certainly have their place, it’s also nice to look back at what came before.

In that spirit, here are 50 delightfully retro cards from the New York Public Library’s digital archives. Believe it or not, they have many, many more, which you should check out here. We promise it will make your season bright. — Mental Floss

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 6 in a series – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (FREE) via the Gutenberg Project

One of my favorite Christmas stories and one that I read every year. In the past, I — along with friends — have streamed a live reading of the text the Sunday before Christmas. You’ll find links to past shows below. — Douglas

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.
The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the
undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name
was good upon ‘Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old
Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there
is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined,
myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in
the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my
unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country’s done for. You
will, therefore, permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as
dead as a door-nail.

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise?
Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge
was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his
sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even
Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was
an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and
solemnised it with an undoubted bargain.

Read or Download A Christmas Carol in HTML, EPUB, Kindle and Text Format.

Listen to our 5th Annual Live Reading of A Christmas Carol

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 5 in a series – The Wishbook Web

If you are looking for a deep walk through Christmas Past Nostalgia the Wish Book Web is sure to trigger many memories for you. I know it did for me, especially with these catalogs from the 1960s. I clearly remembering flipping through the pages and noting what I thought was really cool. Then I would circle the products and turn down the page corners so I could revisit them later. Check out your favorite catalog and then share your memories in the comments! — Douglas

Check out the catalogs at the Wish Book Web!

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

Christmas Past – 4 in a series – A Christmas Carol (1947), Performed by Lionel Barrymore; Richard Hale

Play and Download This Recording  from the Internet Archive

“Of all the roles I’ve done, the one I’d like best to be remembered for is Scrooge. It is unquestionably one of my favorites.” Lionel Barrymore, Dec. 21, 1947. The New York Times. (Interview with Dorothy O’Leary).

When MGM Records released A Christmas Carol in 1947, Lionel Barrymore had been playing Ebenezer Scrooge for twelve years on the radio. Starting in 1934, CBS presented the Charles Dickens’ classic story each year and it soon became a much loved Christmas tradition. Barrymore, in his radio debut, embodied Scrooge to perfection. As he  revealed in a 1947  New York Times interview, “I seem to shrink and an unnatural meanness of disposition comes over me. I seem to be Scrooge in body and mind.”

Barrymore went on to play the role 17 times before his death in November, 1954, and only the direst of circumstances prevented him from playing it. When his wife died in 1936 he was unable to perform, and his brother John rushed to fill in for him. He also missed the performance of 1938 when serious illness forced Orson Welles to substitute. — Library of Congress

15% Off Everything Today! – Get These Amazing Vintage Lillies on Shower Curtains, Pillows, and More From Douglas E. Welch Design and Photography [For Sale]

*Redbubble has discounts when purchasing multiple items and also gives 10%-20% discounts on a regular basis. Check back often!

Shower Curtain Features

• Fits most standard size tubs and showers
• 12 button holes (shower hooks not included)
• Liner not included
• Made from 100% Polyester
• Vivid, full color print on front, white on back
• Machine wash cold

See more shower curtains

See more items with this design

Follow me on Redbubble DouglasEWelch.com/shop/follow

See my entire catalog DouglasEWelch.com/shop/

Find more at @DEWDesignPhoto

Christmas Past – 3 in a series – Sunset Magazine (1902)

Download this cover from the Internet Archive