Love it or hate it: Christmas is one of the most in-your-face holidays out there (possibly tied with Valentine’s Day). Whether or not you celebrate, it certainly makes its presence known through television commercials, radio hits and the kinds of candy grocery stores decide to put out. But with the back half of the year being so packed with holidays and special events, when is the ideal start to Christmas? Writers of the Life Section have banded together to find out the truth: When is it socially acceptable to start getting hyped for Christmas?
Dan Stark, Life Editor, daniel.stark@uconn.edu, he/him/his
As someone who has always enjoyed the month of November, nothing bothers me more than people who start blasting Christmas music on Nov. 1 and start yelling about how Christmas season is finally here. But after the prolonged spooky season, I need a break from holidays for a bit. That’s why I firmly believe that Christmas season doesn’t start until Black Friday. The time between Halloween and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to decompress from spooky season and by the time Black Friday hits, I’m ready to fully embrace the Christmas spirit.
But until then, I will be observing “Edmund Fitzgerald fall,” where I constantly blast Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” every day to honor the late vessel that sank on Lake Superior in 1975.
Samantha Brody, Associate Life Editor, sab23059@uconn.edu, she/her/hers
Although I’ve already been pranked by Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the true start of the Christmas season is and always will be Black Friday. Thanksgiving is an autumnal holiday and Christmas is a winter one — to let Christmas precede Thanksgiving is to let the calendar year fall into absolute anarchy.
Also, Black Friday feels like a Christmas-related holiday to me. Christmas and New Year’s form a bit of a duo, given how close they are in both time and theme. Why not add Black Friday into the mix? I’d argue many people use Black Friday and the following Cyber Monday as the perfect time to begin Christmas shopping. And we all know what genre of song the stores will be playing on Black Friday: Mariah Carey will have her revenge.
Sawyer Brown, Campus Correspondent, sabine.brown@uconn.edu, he/him/his
While I understand the hype around the holiday season, I strongly believe Nov. 1 is far too soon to begin embracing the winter and cranking Christmas tunes. There is still so much autumn left to appreciate, especially surrounded by such a vibrant New England fall landscape. I agree with those who believe that the holiday spirit truly starts to show itself after Thanksgiving. However, I do think that one event can override this: the first snow. Nothing sets the tone for the holidays like cozying up with a delectable cup of hot cocoa and listening to a playlist of Christmas classics while snow flurries flutter in the wind outside.
Thaddeus Sawyer, Staff Writer, thaddeus.sawyer@uconn.edu, he/him/his
I would be remiss if I did not preface my response with the fact that I listen to Christmas music year-round. It’s one of music’s most whimsical genres, and there’s something desirable about having a “Wonderful Christmastime” in the middle of June.
For all intents and purposes, however, the Christmas season does not begin until at least Thanksgiving. Specifically, Christmas season doesn’t arrive until Santa Claus and his elves bring up the rear of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as the grand finale. At that point, it is reasonable for a sane person to begin enjoying some Christmas tunes.
Max Muller, Campus Correspondent, jyv24001@uconn.edu, he/him/his
Growing up, my brother was a huge fan of all things Christmas, and this has irreversibly changed my opinion on the holiday. No matter the month, all he ever wanted to watch was “Frosty the Snowman” or “The Grinch,” and because of this I am a staunch believer that Christmas should only be celebrated for a week in advance.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, but I think that a part of what makes holidays special is that they only happen once per year. For example, if Halloween happened every week, kids would never want to go trick-or-treating and it would be boring to dress up. But because Halloween only happens in October, the whole month has its own charm.
In general, November is accepted to be the start of the Christmas season, and I think this spreads the Christmas spirit a little too thin. Using Halloween as an example again, I don’t think you could bring up October without making people think about Halloween, it’s just that iconic. Christmas does have that charm, but it feels like a lot of people are sick of it. People joke about Mariah Carey un-thawing every November, and I don’t blame them.
If Christmas was just confined to December the same way Halloween stays in October, I think a lot more people would find it easier to get into the Christmas spirit.