The editorial calendar of this very website mirrors what happens in retail. I've been working on my Holiday Wish Guide™ features since before summer officially hit. Quite simply, it would be impossible to just magically complete work on what's needed for the holidays if I waited until fall. Why do stores like Hobby Lobby start stocking Christmas gear in summer? Same reason, many of their customers are crafters, and to be ready for the holidays, they need supplies so that they can start creating months in advance. Around here, the big holiday craft fairs have begun.
The first time I ever heard a consumer complain about "Christmas Creep" was back in 1996 when I worked for Walmart. That was over two decades ago. It happened all the time, and it was typically a very specific customer that would hit us up about it - each with a similar level of smugness, as if we were seeing the same grump in a different body. Do they really think that the hourly associates on the salesfloor in a "big box" care? They might feel like they just have to say something, but they're laughed at as soon as they're gone. Not only do the folks not care, but the complaints (which will change nothing) are being delivered to people who are in no way responsible for the way things work.
I always tend to think that the same people who take to twitter to shout "#tooearly!" this year, are the exact same ones who were "surprised" last year, and the year before that. I've even overheard it while shopping with my family this summer. You take a turn down an aisle that's starting to switch seasons, and there's that person - mumbling "too early!" I've already purchased some Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (the "preview" is in July every year), and on August 22, I did my first massive "Pumpkin-everything" haul from the grocery store. I'm not in the mood for the holidays yet (but I am in ready for fall), though I know that this stuff is out there now because of the way the selling seasons work. And, if you want the good stuff, you have to shop early. None of this bothers me, and it shouldn't bother you. But, if it does bother you, then you bother me. Weird, right?
I have a tradition here that dates back to my days working for the late Musicland Group in their Sam Goody division, where I would occasionally point out that like decor, the "early" release of holiday music is not new. Each year, somewhere on this site, I share a reminder that Elvis Presley released his famous Elvis' Christmas Album on October 15, 1957. That was 60 years ago.
You can act surprised that the holiday stuff is on-display during a time you deem "too early," but this is nothing new.
Rock Father HQ Holiday Calendar: My personal holiday calendar (feel free to adopt it if you like) is Fall/Autumn (August 15-October 31), the overlapping Halloween Season (September 15-October 31), Winter Holidays/Christmas Season (November 1-December 25). I tend to skip or downplay American Thanksgiving as a "speed bump" between October and December, and New Year's Eve is usually pretty lame. It is acceptable for in-home holiday decorations to go up on November 1, at which time the playing of holiday music may also begin. Christmas decor specifically should all be removed and put back into storage between December 26-27. If you still have holiday decor up when it hits New Year's, that's just depressing!
*Notes: The picture up top was from 2015, taken on September 2 at a Hobby Lobby. As of this writing, it's September 4 and I've already had three Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. PSL rules.
