Every Christmas as the younger guys were growing up, we listened to Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge on an old family record (later xfered to cassette tape the year I gave a tape copy to each of my living siblings).

The older younger guy's partner had heard about this tradition but the two of them were never over for Christmas Eve and he only knew of the practice from being subjected to "a blot of mustard, a bit of undigested beef" sorts of "God bless us. Every one!" riffs.

Christmas Eve 2006 they stayed with us (so we could all head off the next day to my younger brother's home for Christmas festivities) but that year we couldn't track down a sound system to play the tape and didn't have a record player in the house to play the record.

Finally, this last just past Christmas, the older younger one's partner finally was over for Christmas Eve and got to sit down and listen en famille to the Barrymore do his Scrooge.

And a wonderful Scrooge he is.

Just got a note that the older younger guy's partner had found a Barrymore Christmas Carol at the Internet Archive.

And there it is! The Christmas Carol I've listened to every Christmas Eve since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

Barrymore's A Christmas Carol -- mp3

The Web is a wonder. ...

(God bless us. Every one!)

Labels: culture, life, URL

   posted by Sal Towse at  9:15 PM|| |