Community Chat Discussion Question 4: When is it appropriate to start decorating for the Christmas season?

[Cody]

A different kind of discussion, almost a debate that I am very curious about. Considering theme parks like to flip the decorations overnight from fall to Christmas this should be interesting.

Personally, at-home decorations start coming out a day or two after Thanksgiving. I do joke that living in Florida means you follow the theme park calendar, so Halloween starts in August and Christmas starts November 1^st. Share your thoughts!

[Wowman]

We always slapped everything up Thanksgiving weekend, which usually about a month, and I think the norm in most places. Sometimes, when I lived in Chicago, we might put the lights up early if we had a good day of weather before TG...but wouldn't turn them on until TG weekend. Can't tell you how many years I had frostbite on my fingers and nose trying to hang lights.

[RobertaME]

No Christmas before Thanksgiving. For us, it's a matter of not losing respect for the other holidays that come after Halloween/Nevada Day (yes, Nevada still celebrates our Admission day, which was October 31st, 1864, as a State holiday) and before the Christmas season. Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving basically get ignored at most theme parks because they're pushing to get all the Christmas money they can... same at most stores. It's a shame, really.

I for one would like to see more places hold off on Christmas stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving to give those holidays a chance to shine. (my local WM has had Christmas stuff out for almost 3 weeks already! Ugh!)

[Kablary]

7 hours ago, RobertaME said:

I for one would like to see more places hold off on Christmas stuff until AFTER Thanksgiving to give those holidays a chance to shine. (my local WM has had Christmas stuff out for almost 3 weeks already! Ugh!)

I hear this ALL the time from customers. "Why do you have Christmas out already?! It's not even Halloween??" But you'd be hard-pressed to find a bag of spider webs at your local home decor store in the week before Halloween, because people SHOP all August, September and October. If we waited to have Christmas out until even the beginning of November, 25% of our store would be empty for most of these months because Halloween is pretty much 80-90% sold through by the 3rd week of October. Plus, there really isn't a huge market for "Thanksgiving" specific decorations, at least compared to 10/31 and 12/25. Sure, some Fall colored floral, orange throw pillows and cute ceramic pumpkins that say "Give Thanks" are popular, but aside from that, Turkey Day specifically isn't a big draw for decor, though we do have generic Fall decor available from June through November. 

I suppose you just have to have worked retail for a few Holiday seasons to really understand why there's always an early push for any given Holiday. But frankly I'm so over people being annoyed at us that Christmas decorations are out so early. For every person that gripes, there's a line full of others buying garlands, ornaments, Lemax houses, stockings, and tree skirts as soon as they hit the shelves months before they "should" be available. 

[wolfpaw]

For house decorations for me, it's always a tradition the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) to put up all the Christmas decorations, any Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving should be illegal.

Especially Mariah Carey.. get ready to run she's almost defrosted

[RobertaME]

On 10/29/2023 at 10:52 AM, Kablary said:

there really isn't a huge market for "Thanksgiving" specific decorations

I was more lamenting this than the fact that stores stock Christmas so early because of it. I think it's a shame that Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving don't get as much public attention. I don't really blame the stores... they're just following demand. It's the demand (and lack thereof) itself that I'm annoyed by the most. I remember a time when I was a little girl in the 70s that after Halloween/Nevada Day people would decorate for Election Day and Veteran's Day, putting up red, white, and blue bunting, stars, American and Nevada flags, etc., then after the 11th they would decorate for Thanksgiving with turkeys, Pilgrims, Indians, cornucopias, etc. With the Autumn change, the decorations were fitting.

All that said, I will die on the hill of denouncing stores and theme parks decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving! It's just tacky and smacks of over-consumerism and exploitation of the season. (DLA, my favorite park, is the most guilty of this... slapping up their Christmas decor the day after Halloween) I don't like it and never will.