Suldog's blog yesterday about the Christmas madness hitting the local stores earlier and earlier hit a nerve with me. Costco had Xmas decorations up before Halloween. It drives me nuts, I wear ear plugs when I go shopping now. I told the local Paper Store manager that I wouldn't shop there anymore this season because of it.
There are many things I love about Christmas, I look forward to Advent, I enjoy (most) Christmas music - BUT NOT BEFORE THANKSGIVING!
There's a time and a place, and it's too damn early to hear the dreckky Xmas music everywhere. As Suldog wrote:
"I'm a Christian, so I have more than an annoyance factor at work here. I think that cheapening the holiday, by expanding it beyond reasonable bounds, does a world of disservice to my religion. It gives people a false view of it, by making it a greed-fest. However, if you aren’t a Christian, your take on matters is still important; maybe even more so than mine. If you're Jewish, for instance, I'm sure it makes you mad to see your religion's holy days buried beneath this overkill. If you're an atheist, it must truly make you seethe. Let it out. Tell the world that you've had enough."
Suldog has started the "Thanksgiving Comes First" campaign. If enough of us speak up, we can make those stores think again about their ridiculous practices to extend, cheapen, and make every one sick to death of the Christmas holiday. Let the offending stores know that you won't shop there! Stores to boycott are Target, Macy's, Lowe's, and the Paper Store. Please post about this at your website too, spread the word!
Funny comment by Mark Krikorian: "Ah, remember the good old days, when the War on Christmas didn't start until after Thanksgiving?"
Thank You, Very Much!
Posted by: Suldog | November 14, 2007 at 12:17 PM
I sympathize with the feelings... I, too, was surprised and not entirely joyed to dial over to Oldies 103 on my way to work on Monday, and hear someone doing "Silver Bells." I've already had one near-miss with "Dominic the Donkey" (a truly silly song) and "The Little Drummer Boy." Oldies 103 started their Christmas music on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago, pushed it to a week before last year, and now 10 days before Thanksgiving. I enjoy a lot of the holiday pop music (in due time), but trends like this one leave me treasuring the cadence and devotions of Advent more with each passing season.
If you care to read more about how we got to this point, I recommend two books -- "The Battle for Christmas" by now-retired UMass professor Stephen Nissenbaum and Joel Rosen's more recent "White Christmas." Nissenbaum's is scholarly, and not about the faux-cultural battle that Bill O'Reilly made so much of -- it chronicles the emergence of our commercial Christmas in the 1840s and '50s. Rosen's tells the story of the Irving Berlin song, and how holiday pop music pretty much started with its popularity. (In large part after GIs overseas adopted it in 1942.)
Posted by: Ring-a-Ling | November 14, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Hello, Miss Kelly! I'm at it again, if you'd like to join in.
Posted by: Suldog | October 01, 2008 at 03:47 PM
It's that time again already? But it's not even Halloween yet!?!
Posted by: Kelly | October 02, 2008 at 10:09 AM
I know. Sad. Just trying to get a start on THEM before they get a start on US :-)
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2008/10
/thanksgiving-comes-first.html
Posted by: Suldog | October 02, 2008 at 12:32 PM