“Then Thanksgiving was past and it was time to think of Christmas.”
~Laura Ingalls Wilder, in On the Banks of Plum Creek
I find it interesting that 130+ odd years ago, it was considered time to think of Christmas once Thanksgiving is past. I find it interesting because it doesn’t seem so very long ago that this was still true. For over one hundred years then, at least, the Christmas season began once Thanksgiving was past.
I’ve been disturbed in recent years to see the Christmas decorations going up right after Halloween, in homes and stores and towns alike. The trend is to start the Christmas season earlier and earlier, and I think it’s really taking away from the whole feeling of Christmas.
But this year, I was appalled to walk into stores in early October and see rows and rows of Christmas displays right alongside the Halloween ones! The kids were barely back in school, and the weather was still warm and nearly summer-like. Christmas hadn’t even entered my thoughts yet. And yet, there it is, almost three months before the holiday, greeting you in every store.
I know why it’s happening, of course. The earlier the retailers can get people thinking about Christmas — and buying for Christmas — the more people will end up buying and the more money they’ll make. But they’re spoiling Christmas, and we’re letting them. I try to ignore it. But I’ve seen neighbors hanging their Christmas lights, and friends putting up their Christmas trees, earlier and earlier, clearly driven to keep up with the stores.
It’s really bothered me because I just wasn’t ready for Christmas. We still needed to look forward to Thanksgiving. And with more and more stores open on Thanksgiving Day, and pushing Black Friday sales a day early, or starting late Thursday night instead of early Friday morning, Thanksgiving has now been completely overtaken by the retail business, as well.
I’m curious to see what others think about this. Is it only me that’s disturbed? Maybe you like an extended Christmas season. Maybe shopping on Thanksgiving is a fun new tradition you want to start.
Many say I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I’m okay with that. I like Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I like her notion that the Christmas season begins once Thanksgiving is past. And I plan to stick with that, no matter what everyone around me is doing.
But what do you think? Does beginning the Christmas season early make it better for you? And how early is too early?