by AMBER KELLY Photographer
The Holiday Season is a time of joy and celebration, and generally this time of the year takes place between Thanksgiving and New Years. However, it seems the Holiday Season keeps starting earlier and earlier every year. No longer does this season begin around the time of Thanksgiving, but rather it takes place right after Halloween, skipping Thanksgiving altogether.
It used to just be the stores putting up Christmas decorations early enough to raise some eyebrows from consumers, but now the consumers not only expect it, they embrace it. While the meager turkey decorations are shoved aside, Christmas overtakes store shelves. People take down their orange Halloween lights and spiderwebs, only to replace them with gold lights and snowmen.
Even before Thanksgiving, Christmas music is being played on the radio, as well as Christmas movies being played on the television. In contrast to Christmas, Thanksgiving has very few movies devoted to it, and even fewer songs related to the holiday.
“I used to be surprised every time I heard Christmas songs on the radio before Thanksgiving, but now I’m used to it. It gets me excited for Christmas. The stores do put up Christmas stuff really early. I went into CVS even before Halloween, and they were already selling some ornaments and different decorations for Christmas,” says sophomore Abigayle Cicoria.
The whole month of November is practically devoted to Christmas, and really the only attention Thanksgiving gets is the day after, Black Friday. Black Friday, while associated with Thanksgiving, is the biggest shopping day in America for Christmas presents because of the huge deals stores offer.
It actually does make sense for stores to advertise Christmas so early, as Christmas is a bigger money-maker than Thanksgiving. By putting up Christmas decor and advertising so early, stores get consumers thinking about Christmas shopping much earlier, and when people are thinking about Christmas, they spend more money.
Thanksgiving is a day about giving, while Christmas is generally a day about getting, especially for children. They mainly look forward to presents, which eliminates the idea of eating a turkey with the family and being grateful. Therefore, Thanksgiving is overlooked.
Sure, a lot of families still do the big meal with the turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce, but right after the meal, their minds drift elsewhere, mainly to Christmas.
At this point, calendars should just mark Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, and New Years with maybe a side note about Thanksgiving, as most people are blind to its existence on the calendar anyway.
“I actually love Thanksgiving, but I see how this whole Holiday Season doesn’t really focus on it anymore. On Halloween, people were really already talking about Christmas, and the day after, I saw people with their Christmas lights up. People should stop rushing to skip Thanksgiving and just get to Christmas and New Years, because it really is a great holiday,” says junior Lauren Gaskel.
Maybe in the future Thanksgiving will make a comeback and people, as well as stores, will start dedicating more time to this holiday.
Why do you think Thanksgiving has lost its importance over the years?