It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Or is it? For as long as Christmas has been celebrated, people have been asking one important question: what is the correct time to start celebrating Christmas? This is a hotly debated topic for some, turning you quaint Thanksgiving dinner into a furious argument on if it’s appropriate to play Christmas music during Thanksgiving. And who wouldn’t take this so seriously? Afterall, Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the U.S with around 85% of Americans celebrating the holiday every year. Let’s examine what people in South think, why it seems like stores are a season ahead, and why some of us think we are celebrating the holiday so early.
Shockingly, opinions varied heavily here at South. In a survey sent out to students and staff, responses for acceptable times to celebrate ranged from as early as 2 weeks before Halloween to as late as the week before Christmas. Despite the great variety of responses, there was a clear winner for the most popular answer: over half of the respondents, at 52%, believe that Christmas should be celebrated directly after Thanksgiving. “I believe that it is important to enjoy the fall weather, and the vibes that fall brings. If you start celebrating Christmas too early, you can miss out on the [Thanksgiving and fall] celebrations, and then Christmas won’t feel as special and important when it is actually time to celebrate,” argued a respondent in favor of Christmas being celebrated after Thanksgiving. Many of the respondents thought this was the perfect time to celebrate. They argued that, once the Thanksgiving and fall season were over, there would still be plenty of time to celebrate.
Despite this, almost half of respondents disagreed with this statement. For those more eager celebrators, 21% said sometime in early November, after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving, while an additional smaller 6% said sometime before Halloween. A popular sentiment shared in this group of early celebrators was that celebrating early caused no harm. They understand that Christmas is a big deal for themselves and others and want to allow as much time to celebrate it as possible. “You can decorate before thanksgiving because some people who go all out for Christmas need time or want their decorations up early. Either way, it gets people happy and excited. It shouldn’t be a negative thing. As long as people don’t forget about Thanksgiving,” said a respondent in the survey. The more unpopular opinion was during December with only 19% saying sometime in December. Many of the respondents on this side argued that celebrating so early makes celebrating when the holiday is near less special and fun. Others had a more logical opinion on the matter, categorizing the holidays into months and giving them clear boundaries. “Every holiday should be given its own time during the year and they should not have to compete against each other. Halloween gets October, Thanksgiving gets November, Christmas and Hanukkah can have December,” explained a respondent.
However, for the earliest celebrators, you don’t need to go far. As early as August, major retail stores start to sell and display their Christmas items and merchandise in a phenomenon known as the Christmas creep. Not a single respondent answered anywhere close to August in the survey, so what’s going on here? Why do stores sell Christmas decorations so early? The answer is simple: Christmas is big money for corporations. The average American spends $147 annually on holiday decor and an additional $826 on gifts and merchandise. No other holiday or event has that same predictable and profitable effect like Christmas does. The Christmas creep aims to maximize profits with early shoppers and extend the interval of the holiday season; the earlier they can get a customer to celebrate, the more they will buy. As a result, the Christmas season has been highly sensationalized by these companies. It is possible that this Christmas creep has created an earlier start to the holiday season for many people, which is a sentiment many of the respondents shared in the survey.
When you choose to celebrate Christmas is ultimately up to you. It doesn’t matter if you think that it is perfectly acceptable to put up your Christmas lights before Halloween or if you only just put up your tree a week before Christmas. Just because after Thanksgiving is the most popular answer, doesn’t mean you have to follow suit. Companies may try to sell you an early Christmas season, and it’s okay if you want to buy early or wait until the last minute. But putting out the back-to-school supplies in July? That’s another story…