Few people knew London as well as Dickens. He saw the great wealth that businessmen such as Scrooge were amassing, and he saw the overcrowding, the dirt, toil, and the disease that were the lot of most Londoners. In A Christmas Carol, he tried to inspire people to help the working poor and homeless people.

Working London The Scrooges of London had everything their way. They could pay their workers what they liked and fire them when they liked. But, any kind of job was better than none. There was no government help for the unemployed. Those who lost work might starve. The Royal Exchange for Businessmen

Jobs in London Many rich businessmen such as Scrooge made their money at the Royal Exchange. Their businesses were run by growing armies of poorly paid clerical workers. A typical clerical received about $130 a year, just enough to support a family and rent a house. Scrooge pays his clerk, Bob Cratchit half as much. Clerks working at the Bank of England

Ceaseless Work Many people worked twelve hours a day, six days a week. The only days off were Sundays, May Day, and Christmas. Employers did not have to let their employees off even for these days. Many poor workers such as domestic servants, and factory workers had to work on Christmas. Work and idleness in England.

Growing and Changing London Throughout the 1800’s, London grew very rapidly. The map shows London in 1843; the red line shows the edge of the city in 1812, the year of Dickens’s birth. The ThamesCamdenBusiness District

London Streets London’s streets were crowded, noisy, and very dirty. Almost anything was bought and sold, from pies and coffee to birds’ nests and used clothing. The atmosphere with its combination of sellers, buyers, and entertainers was more like some modern third- world city than modern London. Blind Shoelace Seller Street Conjurer Cab Driver Crippled Bird Seller

Dickens’s City Dickens is forever linked with London. All his life, he loved to explore the city. By the time he was 15 years old, he knew it well, both rich areas and poor. He continued to wander through it, by day and night, until the end of his life. London was his inspiration; his stories are full of its restless energy, and he made his city live in words as no one else could. Fleet Street in 1848

Working Children The streets were so filthy that people paid “crossing- sweepers” to sweep ahead of them as they crossed the street. Many children worked in extremely harsh jobs starting at the age of 5 years old. A Child Crossing Sweeper

Smells of London Many foreign visitors to London commented that the overpowering smell was the stench of horse dung. There were thousands of horse-drawn omnibuses, cabs, and carriages. Horse-drawn Omnibus

Industrial City London was known as “The Fever Patch.” It was the first big industrial city in the world, and it was extremely polluted and unhealthy. Diseases spread very quickly. There were four cholera epidemics in Dickens’s lifetime, and regular outbreaks of typhoid, scarlet fever, and other illnesses. The Thames River was very busy and very polluted. Two hundred open sewers ran into it, and half the population of London still used the water for cooking, washing, and drinking.

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