When I was a child, Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas were all separate holidays. Each had their own "season", and the next didn't start until the last was over. It's not that way anymore. This year, I noticed some stores starting to put out their Christmas decorations and merchandise on the day after Halloween -- and a couple of weeks later all the stores were doing it.
It didn't seem to matter that Thanksgiving had not arrived. Thanksgiving seems to be only a very minor holiday now -- important only because of Black Friday, which kicks off the christmas buying season for many people. I understand why the stores are doing this. Christmas is the big money-maker for most stores (and can even make the difference between making a profit for the year or losing money). Extending the christmas shopping season to include a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving is just a way to increase sales for the season.
But while I understand the motive for combining Thanksgiving and Christmas into one holiday season, I don't like it. Personally, I don't want to even think about Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. And it looks like most Americans agree with me. This Rasmussen Poll (done on November 17th and 18th of 1,000 adults, with a margin of error of 3 points) verifies that 72% (nearly 3 out of 4) Americans think the stores are trying to start the Christmas season too early. Only 19% disagree.
Polls like this won't change anything though. That 19% is a pretty sizable chunk of people, and if retailers can get them to buy early, they will continue to do it. It makes me wonder though -- how long will it be before the Christmas season starts the day after Labor Day (perhaps with a "Black Tuesday")?
