Long before A Christmas Carol was a movie it was a radio play. Lionel Barrymore played Scrooge for many years on Christmas Eve starting in 1934. In 1944 a movie studio gathered the radio play actors and staged scenes for Life Magazine. The issue with A Christmas Carol came out on December 25th, 1944. At the time American soldiers were fighting and dying in Europe during the Battle of the Bulge.
During the war years Life Magazine featured what our military was up to around the world, but it was always concerned with home front morale. Radio plays were one way that families gathered and connected.
Scrooge angrily confronts a solicitor collecting money for the poor and starving. Scrooge says should they die they would decrease the surplus population. 
This is the cover of the December 25th, 1944 issue of Life. 
Scrooge is a changed man. A Christmas Carol is a metaphor for the redemption of a life. 
After Scrooge has changed he teases Cratchut for coming in late and then doubles his salary 
Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning, a changed man. 
The second Spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Present. 
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come forces Scrooge to visit his own grave. Th scene is filled with eternal significance. 
The Ghost of Christmas past shows Scrooge what his life was like and what it could have been. 
After Marley’s visit Scrooge realizes he is all alone and it’s all his fault. 
Marley visits Scrooge and tells him of the three spirits who will visit him on this very night. 
Marley’s face appears on Scrooge’s door knocker in some picture special effects, circa, 1944. 
Scrooge’s reaction to Marley’s apparition on the door knocker! 
Scrooge’s nephew Fred tries unsuccessfully to wish his uncle Christmas cheer,
I simply have to say a bit more about the time frame for this issue of Life Magazine.
The same issue of Life Magazine featured another picture essay titled, Hospital on Leyte. By late 1944 the US had taken much of the Philippines back from the Japanese. The picture essay features Army doctors and nurses caring for the wounded.
The campaign to retake the Philippines in 1944-45 cost the US 14,000 dead and nearly 50,000 wounded. During the war years Life Magazine always featured a photo essay of our military and in this case duly noted that winning the war came with a cost.
Although the soldier is unknown (for wartime security issues) Florence Vehmeier was a real person. She served as an Army nurse throughout the war. She passed away in 2007 at the age of 90. Florence was part of the generation that has been called our greatest. This Christmas let’s remember that freedom is not free. Thank a vet! https://www.facebook.com/worldwarincolor/photos/pb.393166910813107.-2207520000.1572030836./2360435794086199/
History and Hobbies 
Have not seen Jack Scruby’s name for over 46 years. Last saw it in the old old wargaming magazines my father had stored in the attic of our house in Huntsville, AL. I had forgotten all about that until I read this.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I have an interest in the people who were pioneers in my hobby. Jack was one of the few Americans (most of the others were English) who promoted wargaming on a scale previously unknown. His figures are crude by today’s standards but for me they retain a classic toy soldier look. Some you can still get through Historifigs and others I get from the eBay when I see them cheap enough.