I went into a local restaurant/gift shop earlier this morning to purchase a food item to go. But first I had to pass a phalanx of what looked like Cinderella costumes, witch costumes, and clerks dressed in ghoulish attire. I edged by shelves of smiling, toothless pumpkins too. Shell shocked, I placed my order with the restaurant hostess. Surely I was seeing things.
When it was time to pay, I questioned the cashier to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. “Am I correct? You’re displaying Halloween items already?” She nodded, took my money, and quietly added: “Yes. And if you look to your left you’ll see Christmas products on display.”
I slowly moved my eyes left, afraid that if I tilted my whole head, some witch would whisk a spell on me and I’d be compelled to buy something Christmasy. Sure enough, there were snowmen and Santas smiling at me. Almost waving. I thanked the cashier and quickly left.
My calendar says it’s the eighth of August. Labor Day has yet to roll around. So has Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day, although I’m sure there are people out there who don’t even know these latter two events. I predict that somewhere in the near future, we won’t recognize Labor Day either. We may not even recognize Thanksgiving. Why? Because retailers are showing their holiday wares earlier and earlier.
I understand the economy is rough and that the end-of-the-year holidays are often when retailers exchange red ink for black. I know because I handle the finances of such a retailer. There’s no question it’s tough out there. At the same time, I’m torn.
When I was young no respectable merchant put up Christmas decorations until the day after Thanksgiving. The retail world took it holiday at a time. And Halloween wasn’t even considered a really big cash-register day. But times have changed. It’s anything goes, and the merchant who gets the merchandise on the floor the earliest may have an advantage. My only question is: Will Fourth of July be next to go? If so, we could be decorating artificial trees in preparation for December 25 instead of enjoying fireworks to honor our Independence Day.
If that happens, I plan to boycott Christmas and New Year’s indefinitely.
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