Halloween is October 31st but when is the earliest one can appropriately put up Halloween decorations? Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November; people don’t really decorate for Thanksgiving but if they did – when would they? When should the “Christmas season” start?
When does the Christmas season start used to be a stupid question. That’s because, back in the day, the Christmas season always started on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It used to be that there were no Christmas decorations, carols, bell ringers, mall Santas, cards in the mail or anything else until the Friday after Thanksgiving. Retailers typically make 30%, and sometimes more, of their total revenue during the holiday shopping season so it is in their best interest to get shoppers buying early and often.
In 1939, during the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) was concerned about the continuing sluggishness of the economy. He wanted to jump start the Christmas season so he declared that Thanksgiving would be the third Thursday in November instead of the fourth one. Thanksgiving had been traditionally on the fourth Thursday since the time of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln began the practice of a formal yearly Thanksgiving on a specific date at the insistence and persistent lobbying of Sarah Josepha Hale. By the way, she’s the one who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. Initially the South considered Thanksgiving a “Yankee” holiday and wouldn’t celebrate it, even after the Civil War ended. However, when Thanksgiving was celebrated was a matter of tradition and not legislation, so…
For three years, 1939-1941, “Franksgiving” was celebrated on the third Thursday of November while some continued to celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia celebrated “Franksgiving” (the appellation that critics gave the FDR new holiday observance) and sixteen states stuck to the original date (remember, only forty-eight states at that time). On November 26, 1941, the Congress made the fourth Thursday in November officially the date for all future Thanksgivings observances.
Today, the “Christmas season” is a somewhat amorphous concept. Christmas catalogs don’t exist anymore. They used to be one bellwether of when the holiday season began. The sacrosanct start of Christmas on Black Friday is no longer an accepted convention. There are even some stores that are all Christmas all the time. So, when is it appropriate to begin celebrating, decorating, playing Christmas music and otherwise ushering in the Yuletide season?
I really feel for the Salvation Army bell ringers. My paternal grandfather, Grandpa Henry, never passed a red bucket he didn’t put some change into. Of course, there weren’t quite so many buckets in rural Wisconsin then that there are in urban areas today. I rarely contribute to the buckets. It’s not because I don’t want to or that I can’t afford to or that I’m cheap like Scrooge before his transformation. No, it’s because I’m a modern person. I just don’t carry cash anymore. With the advent of direct deposit, ATM machines, credit and debit cards etc., cash is slowly becoming a thing of the past. I’ve been to major American cities where some retailers would not accept cash, despite our currency being adorned with the phrase “legal tender for all debts public and private”. When I asked why, these retailers said they didn’t accept cash because “That way we can’t be robbed.” I think if the Salvation Army model of red buckets with bell ringers is to continue in the 21st Century then credit card readers and other “noncash” methods of accepting contributions will have to be incorporated in their quest for gifts strategy.
Christmas at the Capitol in Pierre kicked off on the day before Thanksgiving and will conclude on December 26th. If you’ve never seen the display of Christmas trees in our State Capitol, you’re really missing out. I served in the State Legislature with four different governors, one of whom was Bill Janklow. I got such a kick out of his response to an atheist protest of the Christmas display in the Capitol during his last term as governor. In addition to the trees there was a Jewish menorah and display as well as a Nativity scene set up in the halls of the Capitol. The atheists thought this was inappropriate for a public building. Governor Janklow’s official response was, “I don’t know what they’re complaining about. I left a corner of the Capitol completely empty just for them.”
Rather than nitpick over when and how we begin celebrating Christmas, be grateful for those who are expressing the compliments of the season. Don’t be a Grinch, allow your heart to grow and embrace the idea of the joy of Christmas, and all it represents religious and otherwise. Accept that Christmas is to be celebrated albeit perhaps earlier by some than you would personally like. In reality, shouldn’t we have the “Christmas Spirit” of generosity, kindness and good will to all the entire year-round? Otherwise, if we don’t, isn’t it a bit like only being a Christian on Sundays?
At the risk of being precipitate allow me to wish you a very Merry Christmas!