As soon as the Halloween season comes to a close, Christmas decorations can be seen everywhere. Clothing stores, including Target and Walmart, proudly display their winter lines, and bright lights and Christmas trees can be seen on major streets like Marin and 4th Street. Despite many people starting to decorate after Thanksgiving, others take the passing of Halloween as an opportunity to display their Christmas spirit. Although Christmas decorations bring us joy and help extend the Christmas spirit, decorating too early can diminish the enjoyment of other holidays, particularly Thanksgiving. The ideal time to decorate is a couple of days before/after Thanksgiving, early enough to appreciate and enjoy the holiday magic for over a month, but late enough to celebrate other holidays, and not be fed up with Christmas feelings the moment it actually comes around.
The holiday season is a happy and cozy time of year for many. Putting up decorations helps people conserve and prolong their seasonal moments of joy even as daylight hours shorten. Decorations are viewed as a means of solidifying the joyful atmosphere, but putting them up too early leads to less excitement. This is not true for all people – what makes someone appreciate the holiday season more makes another person look forward to Christmas a lot less. However, with Christmas build-up being a big part of the Christmas spirit, extending the Christmas season too much makes it feel more ordinary. People start getting annoyed as it drags on, and suddenly Christmas isn’t the special moment of joy it used to be.
Furthermore, by focusing on Christmas as early as the end of Halloween, we disregard the big November holiday – Thanksgiving. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, around 91 percent of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. When public Christmas decorations are seen in streets, stores, and neighborhoods before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving and Christmas get blended into one. In the Bay Area and California, especially, the weather provides no clear distinction between the seasons. November Christmas decorations further smear the line between fall and winter, making many people feel like they’re being forced from one season to another.
Additionally, stores begin marketing Christmas merchandise, such as decorations and gifts, well before the real Christmas season. This encourages early shopping in buyers, and therefore allows the stores to profit more from the holiday season. This is seen by some as the commercialization of Christmas – stores putting up decorations for personal gain and encouraging consumerism. This further takes attention away from Halloween and Thanksgiving. However, this is beneficial for some shoppers. For many people, Christmas can be stressful as well as joyful. According to the American Psychological Association, 89 percent of adults reported feeling increased stress around Christmas. Getting the shopping out of the way a little earlier is a way to avoid the last-minute rush and crowds, leading to less tension.
Besides stores and streetlights, another common form of Christmas decorating is house ornaments. Christmas lights, plastic reindeer/Santas are common sightings, with the most common/memorable of all being the Christmas tree. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, 25-30 million Christmas trees are sold annually in the U.S. When people choose to put decorations up in their own home is a matter of personal preference. If putting up decorations a little earlier makes someone happier, who are we to judge? Families should be free to celebrate as they wish. For many people, early decorations help reduce stress, boost happy feelings, and reduce the onset of seasonal depression. That being said, not everyone has “the sooner, the better” mindset. People should take time to figure out what works best for them and plan accordingly.
Overall, people are entitled to their own opinions regarding when they want to put up Christmas decorations. Even if we might not agree with the way our neighbours or acquaintances get ready for Christmas, we should still respect their decisions and be open to other opinions. However, late November/early December seems like the best time to put up decorations, especially when considering the effect decorations have on our mood and well-being.