Every November, across dining tables and living rooms, a curious thing happens: we gather for Thanksgiving, turkey, signs of gratitude, possibly a nap and the moment the mashed potatoes hit, we’re ushered into something else entirely. For a brief moment, it feels like we finally pause to appreciate the season, but before we can even finish dessert, the world outside is already moving on. The glittery parade of Christmas has started. Christmas hasn’t just arrived early this year, it’s been living in the guest room for a while.
It did not feel like an issue, until it did.
Starting in the early 20th century, the commercial calendar began to reshape the holiday. As Ellen Terrell, from The Library of Congress blog states, “In 1918 […] newspapers ran advertisements in October urging people to ‘start their shopping early’ because of the rules issued to retailers by the Council of National Defense.”
What was once a relatively discrete holiday became the soft launch pad for a longer, profit-driven season.
In Arizona, this dynamic appears loud and clear. Considering the Phoenix-area radio scene, KEZ 99.9 FM, begins its switch to all Christmas music weeks before Thanksgiving.
In this overlap of thanks and commerce, consumerism is subliminally being pushed onto the public. Once Christmas is over, it is on to the next. It becomes incredibly overwhelming. It makes not only Thanksgiving lose its meaning, but also other holidays that follow.
I am all for a Christmas film in November, for early-bird shopping, for that cozy feeling of twinkly lights against the cooling air. But weirdly, each year it feels like the pressure builds earlier and heavier, as if the joy of the season has been replaced with a sort of competition. There’s this unspoken race to recreate the perfect holiday moments we see online: the matching pajamas, the meticulously wrapped gifts and the flawless dinner table. Sometimes I catch myself scrolling, comparing my quiet, real-life moments to someone else’s highlight reel and feeling like I’m somehow behind, like I’m not celebrating “enough.” What used to feel magical can start to feel performative, more about keeping up than slowing down.
As the days go by and we approach these highly anticipated holidays, do not fall victim to this consumer mindset. Make it about family and memories, make it about something intangible, enjoying our Thanksgiving dinners before the green and red lights come by.
