The Twelve Days of Christmas have expanded into the Two-plus Months of Christmas. Before the frost was on the Halloween pumpkin, radio stations in many markets began playing “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and other songs that celebrate the beauty of the season. In anticipation of the Christmas shopping stampede, Walmart festooned its stores with Yuletide decorations on Nov. 1. The National Retail Federation reported that more than 20 percent of Americans had already begun Christmas shopping in September. By the end of October, the number was predicted to be up to 40 percent of Americans concerned that if they wait until November’s Black Friday to start their Christmas shopping, the stores will have run out of stuff to sell.
There is, to be sure, something to be said for not putting things off until the last minute, although in the case of Christmas, lots of people apparently are worried about putting things off until the last month. But there’s also something to be said for the thrill of anticipation.
Because I come from a long line of Christmas procrastinators, my parents seldom got around to buying our tree until a week or so before Christmas and it hardly ever got decorated before Christmas Eve. But when the last ornament had been hung, the last aluminum icicle had been draped and the only light in the living room came from the bulbs on is branches, it became the most wonderful night of the year. Getting up on Christmas morning and seeing the tree all aglow, not to mention the presents underneath it that had been hidden until closets until then, made it magical. It was all the more special, because we know it wouldn’t last; by New Year’s Day most of the needles were embedded in the living room carpet, the tree came down and we’d have to wait 51 weeks to see another one.
It’s tough to work up that same feeling when the tree has been glowing for a month, the music has been playing for two and the shopping has been going on for three.
But it’s probably not too early to look forward to Dec. 26, when the shelves will be filled with Valentine’s Day cards.
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