I'm Not Ready for Christmas, or Even Thanksgiving

As someone who once worked in retail, it has never surprised me how early holiday items turn up in stores. No surprise when I walked into Dollar Tree at the beginning of August and saw Halloween stuff already being set up, and overheard another customer complaining,  "It's only August!" Again, as a former retail worker, I have come to expect to see seasonal items earlier that the actual holiday, but I do agree with remarks people have been known to make about seasonal merchandise appearing about two months ahead of time.  

Christmas is the big offender when it comes to being displayed. It seems to appear alongside the Halloween stuff before the calendar even switches to October! I may or may not be thinking about Halloween in late September, but I'm certainly not thinking about Christmas yet.  And do people think about Halloween costumes in the middle of August? Well, maybe some--those who want to be a superhero or animated character from a then-recent blockbuster movie.  But I didn't decide on my disguise for this year until just before the first day of October.   

Right now,  the only Christmas-related things I'm really thinking about is craft ideas for the center for next month. I saw the paper-cup bell idea a few days ago.  And just now, I saw how to make Santa, elves or reindeer a out of paper plates. I'm going to suggest these for  class in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, I must admit I have no plans for Thanksgiving yet.  I hate to sound like one of those who have the holiday--I really don't, but it's just not my favorite.  Yet every year, I'm seeing complaints about how the holiday is overlooked by retailers. So few people seem to decorate for Thanksgiving so there seem to be very few decorations in stores.  This is why I get surprised to see an inflatable turkey on someone's front lawn. I happened to see one while taking a walk the other day. And it seems that the grocery stores make more money off the holiday that do other retailers. More people are likely to get their turkeys at Safeway than at Target. Target is where the Halloween and Christmas stuff come in. Even Goodwill makes a lot from Halloween what with recycled costumes originally bought from Kmart or Amazon, and pinstriped tuxedos purchased to make zombie gangster costumes. And now in place of the Halloween rack, there is a Christmas sweater rack. But if you're doing a play for school and need a tuxedo for a pilgrim, you'll have dig through the racks to find one since there will not be a display for Thanksgiving wear. But just what do people wear for their Thanksgiving celebration? Probably just stuff they already have and consider holiday-worthy.  It seems like those who do decorate for Thanksgiving only decorate the table  with small cornucopia, a set pilgrim salt and pepper shakers, and a turkey made from a hand traced onto construction paper.  Is this why you see so few Thanksgiving items in stores? Not that I have ever been looking for any or have complained about the lack there of. Rather, I just wanted to comment on this complaint that seems to come year after year. 

Whatever you are doing for Thanksgiving, I hope you have a great day. And I'm not even going to get started on the day after giving thanks, but I just had to share this image. And for the record, I have no plans to do any shopping on that day.

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