It's been a long-standing pet peeve of mine that Christmas merchandise has entered shops earlier and earlier every year. I understand that fall/ Halloween merchandise is sometimes treated the same way - when I worked retail this summer, one floor set for early fall merchandise was on August 1st. However, I would contend that fall is a season, and not a holiday, and that there are no merchandise-based holidays between September and Halloween that would get attention, except the existence of Pumpkin Spice anything and cool-weather gear. Additionally, Halloween is given a pretty concise time frame between September and the end of October.
This pet peeve of mine comes from a love of both holidays for different reasons. I love sweater weather. My favorite color is orange, in part because autumn is possibly my favorite season. I love the spooky aspects of Halloween, obviously: I tell ghost stories for my job. I love the color scheme of Halloween, and the chance to dress however crazy (or not) I want for one day a year, and to change my appearance and not just be me.
I also love Christmas. I love the time of year that I get to see people I haven't seen for a while and decorate in a way that's completely different from Halloween. I like the scents of the holiday season and giving people presents and making things for and with people. It's also a good reminder to slow down and think about other people for once. I know I should think about others outside of December, but it's often a time to reevaluate - how well have I done to help people this year? (This year, I have a very shoddy evaluation).
However, Christmas is given as HUGE a time frame as possible, it seems. Some of it is Black Friday/ Cyber Monday things where you can get gift and life essentials for cheap if that's what you need/ want (and you're willing to risk getting run over by others). But not all of it is "get this super cheap thing so you can upgrade your life and give some good gifts but also not go broke!" While some of it is that, I've seen Christmas decorations put out before Halloween and not clearance items, either. I mean, there were more candy canes alone than autumn and Halloween combined. I know that mid-October means that Halloween is nigh and that autumn is almost halfway done, but it feels like Christmas decorations alone are really what drive profits up in November.
Maybe that's why so many stores do Christmas decorations so early.
I love holiday music as well, but I've always had a weird feeling about not playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving. In my household growing up, usually Christmas music was reserved for after we put the Christmas tree up - and that was at least after Advent.
Maybe that's why I have such an aversion to seeing Christmas merchandise before Halloween - since I grew up Christian, I always associate the Christmas season with Advent. Advent is a full calendar month after Halloween, which means that Halloween is the time for ghouls and goblins and ghosts, and NOT for fun and cheer and spices.
But that's my rant about that. I'll try and be more coherent tomorrow.
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