Friday, 07 November 2008
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Christmas Already?! What Happened to Thanksgiving?
by Mama Fox 
Who has heard a Christmas song on the radio? Or seen a Christmas commercial on TV?
At 8am on November 1st, we walked into Walmart to be greeted by a tall fake Christmas tree. I swear they must have tore down Halloween and set up Christmas at midnight that night. Seriously. There IS another holiday in between there. Breathe for two seconds and let America get over the Halloween sugar rush first. Geez.
Kmart is always running its layaway Christmas commericals. Hallmark is advertising its signing Christmas whatevers. The radio stations are slipping in the peppy songs about snow, Santa and mistletoe. I understand places wanting to make a buck but seriously, why so much of a rush? Heck, I even saw some Christmas stuff up in stores early October. Over commercialized much?
I'll admit that I'm already planning our Yule presents for the kids (because they have been asking for a couple months now for bikes) and I've already agreed to a card swap on a message board. But those are minor things. We keep things simple. Winter should be about slowing down and spending time with the ones you love. Instead there seems to be a push to over-decorate and spend far too much money on material items to clutter up people's houses.
Relax people. Seriously.Have you seen or heard any Christmas promotions in your neck of the woods?
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Comments (51)
I have yet to hear songs on the radio, but I have seen commercials for layaway and Christmas bargains. I completely agree, the idea of Christmas being about family and togetherness has completely gone commercial. Now its about who has the most presents under the tree.
Yes we had Advent Calendars, selection boxes in the shops since September where I live.
As for Christmas song, not heard any, I did hear one being played in August once, but this was on holiday in the apartments we were staying in.
we just went to walmart today
and they were playing christmas carols
so much for thanksgiving
christmas is all over the place here in NJ! and i must say, the decorations clash terribly with the autumn/halloween/thanksgiving decor.
two weeks ago i saw evergreens being sold along with pumpkins at 'whole foods'. the craft stores are filled with christmas decorations. the put up the electric light snowflakes on the lampposts in my town. and on the radio they are already playing christmas songs! i love christmas, but i don't like it coming so soon.
I haven't heard any on the radio, yet, but I have heard them at Wal-Mart. Here, Wal-Mart had their Christmas stuff up before Halloween even got here, they had MORE Christmas stuff up then Halloween stuff. I swear soon they'll have it up all year round!
Thanksgiving has been replaced by "complain how early Xmas decor goes up on planagrams in retail stores". A new tradition in hypocritical America where citizens gripe about commercialism, and run out to the stores the friday after Thanksgiving. News reports devote segments and investigations into why so many retailers use religious iconography in relation to seasonal sales, and how soon decor is put up, taken down, etc.
As for spending too much money decorating, Halloween is equally guilty, when people set up elaborate lighting, props, and makking their house look dramatic. (However, few people put effort into costumes for Christmas, in comparison)
This topic comes up every year, and few people do little to minimize the commercialism in their homes. For example: It's ok to NOT get children gifts that cost more than $400 each. In the Victorian age, you would get an orange, some walnuts, cookies, and you were EXTATIC about it. Now, kids are like, "WTF?! You only got me a Playstation 3, but forgot to get me the Wii and Xbox 360?". I guess it will keep going that way unless people decide to not care what Kohls and Target are doing.
I agree. I LOVE Thanksgiving. We wait to put up any decorations and do any shopping till after Thanksgiving is over. I think it makes it more fun that way. But I do wish that we had an earlier Thanksgiving like they do in Canada. When the harvest is actually being brought in. It seems more like Thanksgiving the end of October than the beginning of November. But any day is a good day to set apart to give thanks to God for all the blessings He's given us.
Thanksgiving is pretty much a forgotten holiday - unless it comes to a store having a sale or being open that day. People think of Thanksgiving and they associate it with Black Friday.
People don't care much about Thanksgiving because they don't get anything out of it. At Halloween - they "get" candy or they "get" to dress up or have/go to parties. At Christmas - they "get" presents or they "get" to go shopping. What do they "get" out of Thanksgiving? Dinner with family? Time to think about the abundance they have to be thankful for that isn't materialistic?
Americans are not thankful a lot of the time. It's really not a big surprise that Thanksgiving gets overlooked. If it's not about having fun or getting something out of it - many people don't care all that much about it.
They skipped the Thanksgiving and went on straight to Christmas because of how the economy is doing.
Not many people can afford both Thanksgiving decorations and Christmas decorations anymore!! x_x
I've seen the Starbucks Xmas cups.. And I'm like, "HEY it isn't even Thanksgiving yet?!"
Crazy.
Soon enough, Christmas stuff will be out after July 4th.
On Monday I was out doing some shopping, and every store I went in was cluttered with staff setting up new displays and emptying boxes. I have never seen more workers on a Monday morning in my whole life. I agree that it happens way too early, but the businesses do what makes money. If we would not buy Christmas stuff so early, they would not put it out so early.
I'm Christmas shopping because I don't like people and me + stores around Holiday time = not happy. We dont put up any decor until after Thanksgiving.. we don't even really talk about it because I do the shopping around here
And I dont like Christmas music to begin with so if I hear it.. it's off.
Well, being married to a retailer, I have to say this year the stuff came out even sooner. The economy is so bad, no one wants to buy decorations when they are worried about getting the basic Christmas presents for family. No frills this year. The retailers are afraid they'll be stuck with all the crap they bought at the Christmas buying shows in April, when the reports on the news kept saying things were getting better, but in fact, weren't. They will just put it out earlier and hope to sell it before they have to deep discount it later.
They actually DO set up the stores at midnight on October 31st.
they figured ... the masses will require a couple of months to slowly buy presents considering the news circulating around wall street --- people will just buy presents for the kids & the adults will either get nothing or just get a little something. nothing like the past christmases ...
I certainly have. I've seen about five Christmas commercials. This doesn't bother me though, seeing as my family has a tradition that ticks off my trick-or-treating neighbors down the street.
So nice.
We decorate the house for Christmas around the 15-17 of October, and light it up on the 31st while we are at Church helping with the Harvest Party.
I suppose the reason everyone is already decorating for Christmas, and jumping over Thanksgiving, is because not a lot of people buy Thanksgiving decor, and a lot less buy unimaginable amounts of toys, tools, and pretty panties for that Holiday. Christmas on the other hand is quite the money-maker.
With the economy in the toilet like it is this year, and everyone trying to save their money, the stores have good reason for putting out the Christmas stuff early. If people see it now, they will buy it now or soon, or even add it to their budget. If they wait until the last minute, chances are they won't have enough mullah to buy those unnecessary amounts of undesirable lingerie, the incredible amounts of toys that will inevitably be lost to dirty rooms, and tools that hubby will never use.
See?
-S.
yeah people like to get an early start on holidays. i love christmas movies and music.
Thanksgiving, simply put, isn't much of a money maker. Primarily, most of us only buy groceries for it...maybe a new pie plate or center peice.
The big toy book from Toys R Us came out before Halloween. Their were carols being played in the drug store a few days ago. Early? Yes. Overkill? Check. Completely lost on me and mine this year? Yup. We don't have the budget for it this year and I'm going to savor the last Christmas I'll see for a long time that isn't punctuated with pleas of, "Mommy! Can have this for Christmas! I'd really like this, too! And this!"
we have already started hanging x-mas lights outside our house they will not be lit until after thanksgiving. and my xanga has a new x-mas layout. and our stores around here started setting up the x-mas displays before halloween about the middle of oct. crazy
We were in Walmart at midnight on November 1st and they switched from whatever elevator music they were playing to Christmas carols. Crazy.
as soon as halloween was over, the christmas stuff went up. i think one year i saw christmas stuff up in september. what's up with that?
I remember walking into a Kmart before Halloween and there was an entire section of the store already devoted to Christmas. My husband and I were amazed!
In my area, Christmas stuff was up before the Halloween stuff was up.
Saw my first Christmas commercial on Halloween night. LOL. Christmas has been up at our Wal-Mart since a week or so before Halloween. Eh, it's all right -- I tend to resist things until the day after Thanksgiving.
I still have our Halloween stuff up. LOL
Until very reciently, I worked at Lindt (a chocolate company). We had to put up our christmas displays on October 30th... BEFORE Halloween! We've had our $30 christmas advent calendar out since early september... it's obnoxious! And as a retail employee, I can say that we don't like it just as much as the customers do! But we have no choice... we have to do what corprate tells us. The best thing that customers can do is complain directly to the corprate offices... complaining to the sales people does nothing, because corprate doesn't listen to us.