Old Christmas

Written by Washington Irving

Narrated by Phil Paonessa

Warm and delightfully festive, this charming and long forgotten holiday classic was inspired, in part, by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and other celebrations of old-time Yule.

Splendid suppers, rural churches, cheerful dances, and hearty spirits imbue this short novel with the magic of the season.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Oct 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781974925629

Washington Irving

Washington Irving Was born in New York City in 1783. He lived in the United States, England, and Spain (where he served as an American diplomatic attache). A prolific author, Irving wrote The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York, The Alhambra, and biographies of George Washington and Christopher Columbus, among other works. He is best remembered, however, for his two most famous stories, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle."

Reviews for Old Christmas

[dasam-5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A look back to when Christmas was fading as a holiday in pre-Dickins England and American Washington Irving was nostalgic for the old ways of celebrating.

[clicksclan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quick and interesting read about how Christmas was celebrated in the past.Liked the way it was divided up into the different aspects of Christmas; travelling for the celebration, Christmas Eve, the morning, Christmas dinner.Interesting to see which traditions have continued, perhaps without people knowing exactly why.Very well written, Irving painted a picture so you could easily imagine the scenes he was describing.Would like to know when this was written, I would guess around Victorian era.

[muldoon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Old Christmas" is an 1875 collection of Christmas stories first appearing Washington Irving's "Sketch Book" published in 1819-1820. . It is a wondrous thing to read laments about how the modern world had lost some of the Christmas magic. At the same time, Irving captures Christmas essences, like families and food and a general spirit of generosity. BTW bought this book at a library book sale.