“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ev’rywhere you go

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,

Toys in ev’ry store

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,

Soon the bells will start,

Roundabouts in Cayman

Lit up everywhere

Christmas tree lit at Camana Bay

A beautiful singing one lit at Lions.”

And we’re not even out of November!

Jessica Hinchliffe writes on the ABC Radio B website:

Puddings, Christmas trees and decorations are already appearing in shopping centres, feeding perceptions that the festive season arrives earlier every year.

It’s the nightmare before Christmas — most people aren’t buying the goods, so why do stores do it?

Gary Mortimer, associate professor of QUT’s Business School, said it came down to shopping psychology.

“The earliest I’ve seen Christmas in Queensland was a department store in Carindale Shopping Centre in August — that was really early,” he said.

“Already the mince pies, puddings and shortbread are in the bakery department in grocery stores.”

One never saw Christmas commercials on American television until after Thanksgiving/Black Friday but this year they have been popping up well before.

However, excepting the “Singing Christmas Tree” at the Lions Centre, there is no word of ‘Jesus’ anywhere. I wasn’t at the Camana Bay Tree Lighting one so there may have been a mention there.

Going as far back as the mid 1980’2 the phrase “Christmas creep” came to being.

According to Wikipeia: “The motivation for holiday creep is for retailers to lengthen their selling interval for seasonal merchandise in order to maximize profit and to give early-bird shoppers a head start on that holiday. However, it is not clear that this practice has been consistently beneficial for retailers.

“The hardware chain Lowe’s [in 2000 came up with a policy] of setting out Christmas trees and decorations by October 1, mainly because the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays do not provide enough merchandise or sales to fill retail space between the end of the summer season and the Christmas season.

“Christmas creep accelerated markedly with retailers such as Walmart, J. C. Penney, and Target beginning their Christmas sales in October.[5] In 2006 the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, said that 40 percent of consumers planned to start their holiday shopping before Halloween. Since the 2010s, there has been a growing trend for retailers to start selling holiday merchandise in mid- to late-September, with retailers such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Kmart, Costco, J.C. Penney, Sears, and Lowe’s now beginning their Christmas sales earlier than October 1.”

I will have to wait for Monday December 3^rd for The Rotary Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Heroes Square. I still miss the bent Christmas tree that was always used well before Heroes Square came to be. It was then that LIVE tree was removed. Rotary, tragically, used a metal one in its place just before this happening. My wife, Joan was so angry about it she wrote a poem that I will leave you with.

I’M A BENT CHRISTMAS TREE

by Joan “Watler” Wilson

“After All, I’m Different”

I’m by no means perfect, as you can see,

But I served a purpose as a Christmas tree.

For years and years I’ve been decorated

Until this year I’m suddenly berated.

And why – just because I’m slightly bent?

At least I’m alive and full of pine scent.

And I’m an original kind of Christmas tree

Not like the decorated wires erected next to me.

I really can’t understand why they’ve given up on me

Regardless of being a slightly crooked tree.

It’s not my fault I was transplanted as a tiny pine

And because I wasn’t staked is no fault of mine.

At least I get noticed by most people passing

Even if they’re only concerned at how much I’m leaning.

We can’t all be perfect, I’m sure you’ll agree,

Whether we’re humans or just a simple tree.

And I’m sure most people who gather around me each year,

Singing carols of Christmas and spreading good cheer

Will insist that Rotary think again about poor little bent me

And reinstate my status as the nation’s Christmas tree!

END

Rotary don’t use a ‘LIVE’ one anymore, but at least it once was, and they do wait until December.

Christmas in November? Bah humbug!!