Christmas Creep

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No, I'm not talking about the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge. The creep in the heading is the extended shopping season that tacks itself onto Christmas and puts "Deck the Halls" into shopping malls while the Hallowe'en pumpkins are still sitting by the till. 

12 Days

The length of the Christmas season has varied through the ages. In Medieval times, it started on the afternoon of 24 December and consisted of 12 full days of revelry, including much drinking and dancing and feasting. The Twelve Days of Christmas ended on January 6, Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Three Kings to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. 

0 Days

When the Puritans, under Oliver Cromwell, gained control of parliament in England and Scotland, they objected to the unbridled partying of the Christmas season and banned its observance altogether. In 1647 they passed an Ordinance that outlawed not only Christmas but Easter and Whitsuntide and all other festival days, commonly called Holy-dayes.

The Puritans in Massachusetts followed suit in 1659. On the understanding that Christmas was ". . . a great dishonour to God and an offence to others. . . " The Colony imposed a penalty of five shillings on anyone who failed to show up for work, feasted, or in any other way celebrated Christmas. 

12 Days Again

If you want to lose an election, tell the voters they can't party, especially at Christmas. By the nineteenth century the Puritans were out of office. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were in the vanguard of most of the Christmas traditions we know today. 

Christmas trees, an import from Germany were popularised by Albert and the royal family. As parents of nine children, the royal couple were quick to focus the festivities on family and gave their children presents, such as sweets, nuts and fruit. As time passed, toys became a prized gift.

Charles Dickens

Some have credited Charles Dickens with inventing our modern Christmas but he merely wrote a story that reflected the prevailing culture of the time with its emphasis on family, food, and charitable acts. In fact, we can look at Dickens as the beginning of the Christmas creep. His family was expanding and he was short of cash, so he wrote a new story, "A Christmas Carol." It was immensely popular and brought in goodly amounts of cash to its author.  The season was still only 12 days long, but money-making ideas were now part of the traditions.

The Great Depression 42 Days

In 1939, the world was in the grip of the Great Depression. American thanksgiving fell on November 30. President Franklin Roosevelt moved the date to November 23 so that merchants would have one more week of sales. The experiment failed,  but illustrates how Christmas and selling have become inextricably entwined.

Boxing Day

By the late 20th century, Boxing Day in many parts of the world, including Canada, had ceased to be a day marked by gifts to servants and became, instead, a huge shopping extravaganza. Intent on securing the best post-Christmas deal, consumers lined up in the dark in order to be first though the door when stores opened. 

The 12 days of Christmas became a song, rather than a season. Christmas happened on Dec. 25 and was over on Dec. 26. Some folk took down their decorations immediately.

Black Friday

In the 1980's marketers hit on another selling buzz word, Black Friday. It fell on the day after American Thanksgiving and denoted the day retailers accounts went into the black, as opposed to red. If enough shoppers spent money on Black Friday, stores would turn a profit for the year.

Cyber Monday

In 2005 the National Retail Federation (the world's largest retail trade association) decided to cash in on the growing on-line sales trend by creating an event like Black Friday, for cyber sales. It is now a huge shopping day with revenue equal to or surpassing that of Black Friday.

No Limits

The Christmas season with lights and decorations and sales and events has expanded from December 24, to December 1, to mid-November, to end of October . . . Who knows where it will go next?

Advent

With the shopping frenzy beginning earlier and earlier in the calendar, the sense of Advent as a season of waiting with bated breath has been lost in the secular world. But there is good news! At SPPC we come together each Sunday for a time of worship, a time of reflection, a time of fellowship. On Sunday, Dec. 14 at 10:00 am we celebrate the coming of Joy, on Dec. 21, 10:00am we look for Love come down at Christmas and on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 7:00 pm, we gather in candlelight to hear the old, old story of shepherds and angels and the birth of a Babe in Bethlehem. We sing Silent Night and O Little Town of Bethlehem. 

On Christmas morning, Dec. 25, at 10:30 am  we come together once again to sing Joy to the World and greet Emmanuel, God with us.

All are invited to step away from the busy world of commerce and join us for these times of worship and prayer and song and thanksgiving.