Once Halloween is over, people tend to not mention Thanksgiving until the day of and just focus on Christmas the whole time. Sometimes even during Halloween, there are Christmas decorations set up in stores. Some people have even had their Christmas decorations out since the summertime, according to MSN.
Sophomore psychology major Jennifer Morales believes that people tend to skip right over Thanksgiving and go right to Christmas because during Christmas it’s about giving and receiving, while on Thanksgiving, people just sit down and eat.
“As a Christian, I go to church with my family for Christmas and it really brings us all together,” Morales said.
Morales doesn’t think it’s wrong for those who tend to not think about Thanksgiving as much as Christmas.
“I have a small family, so for me, Thanksgiving is just a regular day compared to Christmas,” Morales said.
Morales thinks it’s okay for stores to start setting up their Christmas decorations before the holiday even rolls around because it’s a good tactic to bring people in.
According to the Cheat Sheet, the trend of Christmas decorations being set up before Halloween is called the “Christmas Creep.” This name is traced back to the mid-80s.
The “Christmas Creep” describes how store owners slowly start putting out their Christmas decorations in small amounts at first.
Sophomore health science major Jocelyn Ramirez considers Christmas to be more enjoyable to people but thinks that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just as special because you celebrate both with your family.
Ramirez also believes that if there were Thanksgiving music, people might appreciate the holiday a little more.
“There is Halloween music and there is Christmas music,” Ramirez said. “So if there were Thanksgiving music, and if it was exciting and upbeat, it might draw more attention to it and get more people excited.”
Freshman criminology major Ryan Matsinger agrees with Morales and Ramirez and finds that Christmas is a more joyful holiday.
“There are more festivities,” Matsinger said. “Also, Christmas is the time of giving. When I’m given something on Christmas, it’s more special.”
Despite Matsinger’s belief that Christmas is more special, he acknowledges that no one should skip over Thanksgiving.
“I think it’s important to think about Thanksgiving before Christmas because Thanksgiving is all about what you are thankful for,” Matsinger said.
Matsinger would also prefer Christmas decorations to be put up in stores after Thanksgiving but understands why stores put them up earlier and don’t believe that having any sort of Thanksgiving music would really help people not skip over the holiday.
Communication graduate and former writer for the Loquitur Katherine Brachelli wrote about her experience of how people rush into Christmas.
“Halloween just disappeared and Christmas is rounding the corner in just a blink of an eye,” Brachelli wrote. “Yesterday I was staring at my little sister in her Halloween witch costume. Today, I am staring at the plastic Santa Claus on my neighbor’s roof.”
Despite hating the rush to the new holiday, Brachelli acknowledges that she sometimes gets swept into being in the Christmas spirit before Thanksgiving.
“Whether it be something as little as listening to that favorite Christmas song of yours in early November,” Brachelli wrote, “putting those Christmas decorations up early or hitting up the malls with certain intentions of purchasing items and instead being enticed to buy that little Christmas item on sale, in one way or another it somehow catches up to us.”
