The line “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” has gone through an extreme revolution since originally sang in 1951. Then, the Christmas buzz began when snow banks coated streets and the temperature was low. People used to have the patience to struggle through other fall holidays, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving before only eating candy canes and syrup all day while writing a 500-item Christmas list. The drastic change from that version of the holiday season to now is really an awful manifestation.
There I was, walking through my local Walgreens a few days before Halloween, when I noticed a stock of singing elf hats and ornaments to go along with them. No one wants to buy winter ornaments and Halloween candy in one fell swoop. It doesn’t feel right.
And who can forget the red Starbucks cups that set the world on fire this fall? Every year, Starbucks serves their drinks in red, decorated cups during the holiday season. These cups made a 2015 debut on Nov. 3, almost two months before Christmas – 51 days, to be exact. And after stalking Starbuck’s Facebook, an ironic twist came to surface. The cups have been coming out at around the same time every year. Last year it was Nov. 4. In 2010, they were out as early as Nov. 2. But this year, even though the release date has been fairly consistent since 1997, the ornaments disappeared, leaving a bare red cup behind not far after a week later, according to CNN.
So why the sudden revolt? Although there are several conspiracies, I’m pretty firm on the fact that enough people were finally able to recognize how ridiculously early the release date is … and it’s about time.
Before the beginning of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, it was common for Christmas decorations to just start to show up by Thanksgiving, according to Statista. But about 90 years later, that date has moved up to a month and a half earlier. Does that mean that, by 3020, my grandkids can buy my grave some Christmas decorations in August?
I, myself, am a Christmas fanatic and have no problem grazing store shelves stuffed with green, white and red Christmas merchandise, but I think Christmas’ early arrival ruins some of the fun. Imagine holding a dog’s collar when it sees a squirrel. The dog, of course, wants to chase the squirrel. The dog pants and whines and pulls at the leash, but it’s forced to wait. Then, when the dog is released to hunt down the squirrel, the hunt becomes that much more exciting.
Because Christmas cheer has been all up in my face since before Halloween in places like Target and even local pharmacies, it is not as ephemeral for me to see everything in the stores. If merchandise came out at an appropriate time, like it used to, the Christmas anticipation would make me that much happier when the season has arrived.
People will buy all the necessary Christmas hoopla, but they don’t need to buy it before Halloween. Other traditions, such as Black Friday (which, now, also cuts into the latter half of Thanksgiving), Cyber Monday and Shop Small Saturday, exist to encourage people to buy Christmas presents and decorations and to get a good deal in the process.
A commercialized Christmas stretches out holiday cheer so much that even catchy carols become stale and rotten. The last Friday of November and the return of a home’s Elf on the Shelf is when things should really start “looking a lot like Christmas.”