The Mail Center KC

12/13/2022

Before production began on “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol”, Sir Michael Caine told the producer and director, "I'm going to play this movie like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role, and there are no puppets around me." To which the director replied, "Yes, bang on!” Sir Michael Caine considers the role of Scrooge to be one of his most memorable to him and in an interview, Kermit the Frog said the most valuable advice Caine gave him on set was ‘don’t blink’.

12/09/2022

At the time of ‘A Christmas Carol’s publication, many people were somewhat confused by Scrooge gifting the Cratchits a turkey at the end. A goose was the traditional English holiday meal. Goose was the affordable meal option for middle- and lower-class families, as turkeys had been typically only been served by high society. Many scholars believe Dickens’ choice of having Scrooge opt for turkey shows how eager he is to treat the Cratchit family to grand holiday feast.

12/08/2022

The first staged version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ opened in London on February 5th, less than 2 months after the novella’s release. Within four weeks, there were no fewer than eight competing versions of the story playing the London stages.

12/05/2022

Dickens didn't make very much money from early editions of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ Though it was a runaway best seller, Dickens was very fastidious about the endpapers and how the book was bound, and the price of materials took a big chunk out of his potential profits.

12/02/2022

“Bah humbug” and “Merry Christmas” weren’t unknown before ‘A Christmas Carol’, but the book brought them front and center in popular culture. And everyone knows what you mean if you refer to someone as a “Scrooge.”

12/01/2022

December is upon us; the month of Christmas! We will begin to start hearing “Merry Christmas” more and more now. But, did you know that without ‘A Christmas Carol’ we may not be saying that phrase at all?
Though it was more common to say “Happy Christmas” at the time, Dickens repeats the phrase “Merry Christmas” throughout ‘A Christmas Carol.’ When Dickens’s novella became wildly successful, the phrase “Merry Christmas” was popularized and became a standard Christmas greeting.

11/30/2022

Today is the birthday of famous American writer Samuel Clemmons, known by his pen name Mark Twain.
While ‘A Christmas Carol’ was received favorably by many of Dickens’ author peers, a 32-year-old Mark Twain was not a fan. Credited as the first writer to do reading tours of his work, Dickens read ‘A Christmas Carol’ to American audiences during his second visit to the U.S.
Twain’s review of the now-iconic book? “There is no heart. No feeling—it is nothing but glittering frostwork.“

11/29/2022

In 1852, Charles Dickens gave the first public reading of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ After two performances to paying audiences, Dickens instructed the organizers to take the seating out and admit the working class for nothing. He would reprise the performance 126 more times, even touring America to do readings, before his death in 1870.

11/28/2022

On a trip to the United States in 1842, Dickens toured the cotton mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, and was impressed by working conditions there and by the young women who formed the labor force. He was especially taken with The Lowell Offering, a journal containing short fiction written by these "mill girls." Dickens was inspired by themes of memory and redemption he found in these stories. According to recently published scholarship by Natalie McKnight and her student Chelsea Bray, numerous passages from these writings, read with pleasure by Dickens, include “images, narrative structures, themes, and phrasings” suggesting that they influenced the “stream of thoughts and feelings that came to fruition” in ‘A Christmas Carol.’

11/28/2022

Cyber Monday is the Internet’s answer to Black Friday deals. The official observance takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving. If your Cyber Monday purchases don’t work out, our store can help you return it! Simply drop off your package with us and we’ll make sure it gets returned.

11/24/2022

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for all the amazing customers who keep our business going.
Our stores will be closed Today (11/24), and resume regular hours Saturday 11/26.

11/02/2022