Snow globes, tree toppers, Christmas lights, and hot chocolate; All of these can be found in stores starting as early as September. Even walking into Bath & Body Works at the beginning of October, scents such as ‘Tis the Season, Vanilla Bean Noel, and Snowflakes & Cashmere are already on the shelves, replacing the few fall scents that they had out. While there is nothing wrong with celebrating the winter season, at what point is it too early to do so?
In terms of the calendar, fall commences on September 22nd, and ends on December 21st. However, many people will agree that December is a winter month and therefore does not feel very much like fall. And, in Arizona, Phoenix does not start to feel the effects of fall until about mid-October. So, that leaves half of October, and then November, as the tentative ‘fall months’ that Arizona experiences.
The thing with considering November a fall month is that many people have conflicting beliefs about when to put up holiday decorations. It is not uncommon to see Christmas decorations up by the end of November, but it is as though people forget that Thanksgiving is an autumn-time holiday.
It seems like as soon as Halloween is over, people are ready for Christmas. They often overlook the entire month of November that falls in between, even though that holds two important holidays: Veterans’ Day and Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is arguably one of the most important traditions that the United States upholds, and it has been taking place since the 1600s. It should not be glazed over and forgotten amidst the Christmas festivities that people are in such a rush to get done.
Every year, people are more and more eager to put up their Christmas decorations without allowing the fall ones to stay up for as long as they should. Stores start to replace their autumn scents with their Christmas stock before their customers are even given a chance to get into the fall mood.
A reason that companies may want to push the Christmas season to start early is due to them wanting to make more money. Consumerism can drive these businesses to push for the Christmas season to start after Halloween, which is why many fall flavors and scents start to get pushed away for more wintery ones so soon.
When the Christmas season lasts for over two months, it can start to feel watered down. Making it all about money begins to take away from the true Christmas spirit that is supposed to be felt, and it doesn’t seem as special.
In Arizona especially, it is very difficult to distinguish fall from summer as temperatures often stay very high even through October. It is important to allow a proper commercial fall season so that people can at least pretend that it is that time of year.
Any date before December 1st is too early for Christmas decorations. With Thanksgiving being the last Thursday of November, it is ridiculous to see any winter decorations up before or during that celebration.
Decorations for Christmas can be left up for all of December, and that should be plenty of time to enjoy and show them off.
Each holiday deserves a separate amount of time dedicated to it before the next holiday takes over. There should be no reason that a shopper cannot find fall scents when walking into a store at the beginning of October.
Most holidays fall on the same date every year, and they always will be. There is no need to try to skip and rush past other seasons just because they may not seem as important or because they are not as exciting as others.
