Young Reporter: Is Christmas coming too early?

At least, according to apparent new ‘tradition’ it did. On this day, I was sold a Coca-Cola bottle with the Santa Claus design on it in New York, and thus Christmas had begun, to end strictly on the Epiphany in more than two months’ time.

Now, it must be said that Christmas is, as Andy Williams sang in 1963, “the most wonderful time of the year.” A few weeks or so of, to quote more cheesy Christmas songs, “peace and mercy to all men” (Robbie Williams- Walk This Sleigh), “walking in a Winter Wonderland” (Richard Himber) and “forgiving and… forgetting” (everyone’s favourite Sir Cliff Richard- Mistletoe and Wine). It’s a time when everyone can forget their woes and drown their issues in merriment and frivolity. Simply put, it is amazing.

Having said that, why does Christmas feel the need to jump the gun?

Christmas Day, though the most eagerly anticipated date in the calendar across the Christian world besides possibly birthdays, especially for “tiny tots with their eyes all aglow” (Nat King Cole- the Christmas Song), is less than 24 hours’ worth of fun and enjoyment. So why are there advertisements for it almost exactly two months too early?

The answers: the media and the shopping industries. It’s all about the money.

You may find that some chain stores, such as, for example, the Co-op, start setting out their mince pies, flimsy chocolate advent calendars and other Christmas-related material in mid-October, some even in late September, a full quarter of a year before they’re actually relevant. The reason for this is money. Everyone loves Christmas, so many businesses are trying to capitalise by referencing it months before, in hope that people will start their Christmas shopping and maybe double it up with Hallowe’en while they’re at it. In order to avoid the Christmas shopping rush, many people are now buying Christmas presents in early November. There’s nothing too bad about this; after all, it helps to get it out of the way early.

But now, a lot of people have decided that this means that Christmas has rolled back a fortnight and so are deciding to put up their decorations and their Christmas trees and buying turkey in bulk weeks before they would have, say, a decade ago. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get into the Christmas spirit, but it doesn’t pay to get into the Christmas spirit a full lunar cycle before Santa comes calling. Before long, you’ll find you’ve bought worthless presents, such as mince pies that go out of date in mid-November, and you’ll buy them over and over again and soon before you know it you’ve bought a pile of mince pies the size of Venezuela. What logic is there in this?

I hope you “have yourself a merry little Christmas” (Judy Garland- same name). But for Rudolph’s sake don’t put the sleigh before the reindeer. For one, his nose will be functionally useless. But in all seriousness, stick to tradition. Don’t put up your decorations until you really feel Christmas in the air. Anytime in December is usually acceptable. Earlier than that, you need to reassess your priorities because if you don’t you’ll find you’ve accidentally ruined yourself financially. You don’t want to be down at Christmas, now do you?

Alex Walker, Gravesend Grammar School