In the United States, we have increasingly smushed our holidays together. By mid August, Halloween supplies (Halloween is October 31, so no time to waste!) are in the stores. Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November for us) isn't far behind. Christmas (December 25) has to have its due, too.
Last weekend, I was shopping in a chain store called the Christmas Tree Shoppe (which, despite its name, does not celebrate Christmas year round) for some pistachio nuts, and I happened to see this display.
Hanukkah. It caught my eye since I am Jewish. But I'm not shopping for supplies. Yet. (and I wouldn't be shopping for these supplies, but that's a post for another time.)
Would I be a killjoy to point out that Hanukkah, our Festival of Lights, doesn't begin until December 2 this year? (Hanukkah is a different date each year since our religious calendar, which is lunar, does not track with the secular Gregorian calendar we use in our country. But it almost always takes place in December).
I say, let's not rush things. Don't we have some time to celebrate Halloween? Or Thanksgiving?
And yes, the store had its Christmas stuff out, too.
What do you think about the increasing smushing of the year end holidays?
Day 7 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
The time is out of joint ....
ReplyDeleteAnything to make a buck seems to be the philosophy.
ReplyDeleteIt seem like the holiday are being push into each others.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
I am completely against the end-of-year-smashing of holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas shouldn't roll out until after Halloween, and I only think they should roll out together because time really does start to slip away faster during November and up to Christmas. We still don't have to start anything in Mid-August, though I have to admit it does give me a rush to get a peek of our Halloween stuff as the first few things make it out onto retail sales floors in August and September. I like all the holidays, but Halloween has always been special to me.
ReplyDeleteKim
I do enjoy celebrating holidays, one at a time. One way that I can enjoy holidays is via a email crochet group that I've belong to since about 2000. We do exchanges, some of which are centered around holidays. Our most recent one was a Halloween exchange. We get to decide what we want to make; all we have to do is to stick to the theme.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Each holiday should be celebrated singly and given its due. This is my favorite time of the year but it always feels so rushed.
ReplyDeleteI've already seen Christmas things out. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about the end-of-year holidays is that they come *at the end of the year*. It was bad enough when the stores put out their Christmas stuff after Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving hadn't even been celebrated, but now... I swear, I saw a commercial for Christmas stuff on September 21, which was STILL SUMMER. To be fair, retailers are in the red most of the year, and usually don't climb out of it until the Friday after Thanksgiving (thus the name "black Friday," because the stores are finally in the black), so I can understand them wanting to get a jump on things, but starting the Christmas commercials before the first day of Autumn is ridiculous.
ReplyDelete