The prize turkey
The prize turkey is the enormous bird Scrooge impulsively purchases on Christmas morning and anonymously sends to the Cratchit household, serving as the first concrete act of his transformed character and the story's most vivid symbol of reckless, joyful generosity. It marks the moment when Scrooge's internal reclamation becomes external action, a comic and extravagant gesture that reverses a lifetime of miserly calculation.
Identity and Appearance
The turkey is first seen hanging in the poulterer's shop at the corner of the next street but one, where it is displayed as a prize specimen. When Scrooge inquires about it, a boy in Sunday clothes confirms that the bird is still there, describing it as "the one as big as me." Scrooge later reflects that the turkey is "twice the size of Tiny Tim." When the bird arrives, it proves so enormous that it "never could have stood upon his legs" and would have snapped them off "like sticks of sealing-wax." Its sheer size makes it impossible to carry to Camden Town by hand, requiring a cab for transport.
Scrooge's Purchase
On Christmas morning, immediately after his transformative night with the Spirits, Scrooge calls down from his window to a boy in the street. Learning that it is Christmas Day, he asks whether the poulterer's still has the prize turkey. When the boy confirms it is still hanging there, Scrooge instructs him to go and buy it. The boy initially responds with disbelief—"Walk-ER!"—but Scrooge insists he is in earnest. He promises the boy a shilling for returning with the poulterer's man, and half-a-crown if he returns in less than five minutes. The boy departs "like a shot."
The Anonymous Gift
Scrooge whispers to himself that he will send the turkey to Bob Cratchit's house, and that Bob "shan't know who sends it." He finds the idea so amusing that he rubs his hands and splits with laughter, declaring that "Joe Miller never made such a joke as sending it to Bob's will be!" His hand shakes as he writes the address, but he manages to complete it and goes downstairs to open the street door, ready for the poulterer's man. While waiting, he notices the door knocker and pats it affectionately, declaring he will love it as long as he lives.
Delivery and Cost
When the turkey arrives, Scrooge pays for it with a series of chuckles—chuckling as he pays for the turkey, as he pays for the cab, and as he recompenses the boy. He then sits down breathless in his chair and continues chuckling until he cries. The turkey is so large that Scrooge insists a cab must be hired to transport it to Camden Town. The entire transaction is marked by an infectious, almost giddy joy that contrasts sharply with his earlier miserliness.
Significance
The prize turkey represents the first and most dramatic evidence of Scrooge's transformation. It is a gift given in secret, with no expectation of gratitude or recognition, embodying the Christmas spirit of anonymous charity that Scrooge had earlier rejected when the portly gentlemen solicited donations. The turkey's enormous size—twice that of Tiny Tim—makes it a comic exaggeration, but also a measure of Scrooge's newfound generosity: he gives not the smallest possible gift but the largest available. The act of sending it to the Cratchits, who had just eaten a modest goose for their Christmas dinner, ensures that the family will have an abundance they could never have afforded. The turkey thus becomes the story's most tangible proof that Scrooge has truly changed, and that his redemption will be lived out in concrete acts of kindness rather than mere resolutions.
