Samuel A. Weller a series of talented designers and potters and profited from their work. Charles Babcock Upjohn worked for him from 1885–1904, with the first and second Dickens lines, as well as Eocean and Corleone lines. The Dickens lines were copied from a very successful line of figurines produced by Doulton of England, based on Charles Dickens characters. Weller was amused that Sam Weller was also the name of a servant in the "Pickwick Papers". He is reported to have declared, "If Dickens can create a character named Sam Weller, the least I can do is reciprocate and name a line for
Charles Dickens Words" earlier on 3 April 1852 was considered by the hospital's founders to have been the catalyst for the hospital's success. Dickens, whose philanthropy was well-known, was asked by his friend, the hospital's founder Charles West, to preside over the appeal, and he threw himself into the task, heart and soul. Dickens's public readings secured sufficient funds for an endowment to put the hospital on a sound financial footing—one reading on 9 February 1858 alone raised £3,000. After separating from Catherine, Dickens undertook a series of hugely popular and remunerative reading tours which, together with his journalism, were to absorb