All I Want for Christmas Is… November?

The moment pumpkins and skeletons are replaced by twinkling lights and our living rooms suddenly sprout Christmas trees marks not only a shift in the calendar, but also a shift in our lives. Still, every year it seems Christmas sneaks in just a little sooner. Walk into any store on November 1st, and you’ll hear Mariah Carey blasting through aisles adorned with elves and mistletoe where spiders and skeletons lived just hours earlier. While I love Christmas, I can’t help but wonder: is this early holiday cheer as innocent as it seems, or a clever cash grab by businesses eager to capitalize on the season?

To understand why we seem to kick our pumpkins to the curb the moment November 1st rolls around, we must first look back on the origins of Christmas.

The Beginning of Christmas 

Long before the birth of Jesus, people have celebrated the middle of winter. In Scandinavia, the Norse celebrated Yule from December 21st through to January, marking the winter solstice and the sun's return. Families would burn large logs and feast until the fire burned out. The Norse believed that each spark represented a new pig or calf to be born in the coming year.

Fun fact: Due to the size of the logs, this could take as long as 12 days! 

Meanwhile, in Germany, people honored the pagan god Oden, who they feared as they believed he flew through the night sky observing his people and deciding who would prosper and who would perish.

Over in Rome where the winters were far less harsh, they celebrated Saturnalia. This festival began the week before the winter solstice and continued for a full month after. It honoured Saturn, the god of agriculture, and was a riotous time of excess and revelry during which social order was temporarily upended. Members of the upper classes often celebrated the birthday of Mithra—the god of the unconquerable sun—on December 25th. For some Romans, it was the most sacred day of the year.

Did you know? Slaves were sometimes given temporary freedom and treated as equals during Saturnalia. 

In the early years of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday and Jesus' birth went largely uncelebrated. Regardless, church officials declared it as a holiday in the fourth century. The Bible however did not include the date of his birth. Interestingly, it is more likely that Jesus was in fact born in spring—shepherds tending flocks in the winter seems unlikely, right? Pope Julius, despite this, chose December 25th to be Jesus's birthday. Many historians believe this choice was intentional: aligning Christmas with the widely popular holiday of Saturnalia increased the chances that the new holiday would be widely embraced.

These old traditions have evolved into the Christmas we know and love today. The festival, once filled with nights of celebration and joy has now become a season centered around giving—and inevitably, buying. 

The Business of Christmas 

As reported by Forbes, American retailers can expect to make $1 trillion in Christmas sales, which accounts for nearly one quarter of their yearly profits. It is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, along with Queen Victoria and the British Royal Family, that cemented the holiday as a family affair centered around gift-giving. While Christmas was initially celebrated primarily by the wealthy who could afford a turkey or goose and buy gifts for their children, the average family’s wealth grew over the course of the 20th century, leaving more money to spend on the holiday. The economic boom of the 1950s especially allowed most families to afford a Christmas tree, presents, and a turkey dinner.

Companies embraced this new development with open arms. Sears released their first Christmas wish list in 1934, and the first mall Santas appeared around the same time. Retailers quickly realized that Christmas wasn’t just a time of giving—it was also a time of spending. As the holiday season became a goldmine for retailers, stores began decorating early to attract holiday shopper.

This year, Starbucks will launch their Christmas menu on November 6th, over a month before Christmas. This raises the question: why have these December traditions begun to bleed into November? With the rise of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, companies are seeing holiday shoppers earlier than ever. Since Christmas is often one of the most lucrative times of the year, businesses have become eager to extend the season as long as possible to maximize their profits.

According to a survey by Abacus Data, 87% of Canadians plan on celebrating Christmas this year. With Christmas being such a beloved holiday—and such a profitable one—it’s no wonder companies are starting to push the season earlier each year. After all, for most, a little Christmas cheer in November feels more exciting than exploitative.

To be honest, I know I’ll be putting my consumer hat on this holiday season, blasting Mariah Carey with a peppermint white mocha in hand. But what about you? No matter what—or when—you celebrate, Happy (early) Holidays!