I don’t know about other countries, but in the nordic countries was it not a day to get present until after 1600 so there may have been a time with less visible capitalism. The presents started as a gift to ppl in need and later became a thing you give to family and friends. That day wasn’t even a Christian day at first until we converted. It was called midwinter(no presents, just a celebration). But like the person who responded to you before me said; capitalism has been around a lot longer.
People in my neighborhood put their Christmas lights up immediately after Halloween and might take them down before February.
Now I’m no mathetologist, but that’s 1/4 of the goddamned year! It’s not Christmas. It’s sad nostalgia for an aging generation, trying to recreate their own half remembered childhoods, and, like everything else in modern life, late stage capitalism is more than happy to take advantage and milk it for all that it’s worth.
On a serious note, doesn’t having a holiday season take up 1/4 of the year detract from its specialness and solemnity?
I usually put up my Christmas lights at the end of September if I can. Programmable RGB lights so I can use them for Halloween as well as Christmas. I turn them off between Halloween and Thanksgiving usually, but now I’m seeing tons of Christmas lights already on in my neighborhood and I didn’t actually put my lights up this year. Probably will just go without putting them up this year as I hate going up on the ladder, but I have some RGB spiral trees to put up in the yard at least that I’ll still put out probably after I get back from Thanksgiving break.
I think Christmas has become the poster child for this unending cycle of “event seasons” that is pushed by retailers. New Year’s celebrations and sales give way to Presidents Day sales and Valentine’s (if you really love her you’ll spend $10K on a real blood diamond) then it’s Easter (gotta buy cute new clothes for the kids to celebrate the rising of the Christian lich god) then Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Pride Month, Fourth of July, Back to School, Labor Day, Halloween, say hi and bye to Thanksgiving bc Christmas ads featuring white people buying ridiculous shit for their spouses take precedence.
To be fair, people like holidays and it’s tradition far older than capitalism, the calendar in most of catholic and orthodox countries (and afaik the nonchristian religions aren’t that much different in that) since medieval up to even XX century in some places was literally counted not by months and days, but from holiday to holiday and there was dozens of them, so every few days except maybe the great fast there was this or that holiday. Capitalism just took the heavily cutted protestant version and concentrated the holidays even further, but the actual celebrations are just few days (we can’t give proles too much free days, we need the labour to steal!) so that the preparations got extended beyond the wildest expectations.
Macy’s played a significant role in popularizing Christmas consumerism through events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and their holiday displays. The first parade was in 1924.
It was around that time Christmas was portrayed as a shopping holiday. It was such a successful marketing campaign that the rest of the holidays were sure to follow.
Meh, at least the blood diamond thing is dying fast and hard. Young people don’t give two shits about real diamonds, and neither do some of us old farts.
Hell, my finance and I are both 52 and the question of “real” diamonds never even came into play. We just got on Etsy and picked a couple of dope rings that we loved, ~$500 for both.
Disclaimer: Her ring appears to have real diamonds, but they’re tiny. For $260, for that ring, I’d say the price of diamonds has tanked.
Alternatively, you can let me put up my damn 5 minutes of happiness tree and the “I like the pretty color” lights. Christmas is literally the comfy smell-good season for me. And Thanksgiving can co-exist. Yeah its pretty much about presents and wrapping paper for the stores, but just because a bunch of assholes like it for evil reasons, doesn’t mean I have to cull my enjoyment to “defeat” them.
TL;DR I’m gonna just keep the Christmas Tree around and redecorate it for each holiday. And I’ll have Halloweenmas, Thanksmas, New Yearsmas, Birthmas whatever other holidaymas.
Same here. Decorating the tree is just fun and it smells good. Plus it’s an excuse to make the outside of the house pretty when HOA normally doesn’t allow it most of the year.
Sure feels like Christmas is the only holiday we are allowed to care about. Every store sells Christmas decorations, restaurants have Christmas flavours, the radio stations are plagued with Christmas songs, ads are all Christmas themed, etc.
As an American Jew, I can tell you from 46 years of experience that the only holiday being celebrated is Christmas. Anything else is just throwing a tiny bone towards whoever doesn’t celebrate it.
Well, in some countries it’s also 7th region of January, but that’s religious details. Here in Ukraine, we’ve recently switched the official Christmas date, so we kinda have both
Ah, that’s what they mean. No, lemmy doesn’t federate posts that aren’t on any community, meaning all microblog posts. Kbin does however, I’m pretty sure.
Depends on the client. Website doesn’t make it clickable, Jerboa can open it locally without problems, Eternity also opens it locally but has problems loading.
Okay I will say I forgot about that, that’s a drivers rules thing, if I’m driving maybe one or two, but if the wife’s driving it’s her radio unfortunately.
What’s stopping you? Someone told you that it’s impolite? Next time you go shopping, look how many people have earbuds or headphones on. It’s not this taboo thing.
Yeah no one enjoys it shoved down their throat, but you can also do a modicum of things instead of bitching about it either. It’s pretty easy to ignore this stuff actually.
Empathize for something that you can just ignore…? That’s cute.
Lol and no one cares that you hate Christmas music, it’s why it’s getting worse, but you know what you can control, headphones.
Also what a terrible attitude, making other people happy is what everyone should strive to be doing, I feel sorry for the people around you. You also claim I lack empathy and than say no one cares if my wife is happy…? That’s a mighty hypocritical stance you’ve got there miserable troll. Why should I empathize for someone who won’t return it…? That makes zero fucking sense lmfao.
I hate to say it, but how can it be precious if it is not special? You could have Christmas decorations and music all year round, but then nobody would smile because there would be no special time anymore with which it’d be associated.
Edit: Additionally, if it is not in anticipation of something special, the flashiness just becomes plain annoying.
I could have Christmas up all year, but than it loses it magic.
It’s from after Halloween, to new years.
What’s magic to someone else won’t be magic to you, don’t shit on other peoples happiness just to make you happier. That’s what’s destroying this world.
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