In the early centuries, Pagan folk–individuals who did not practice a specified religion–would hang evergreen branches decorated with their choice of nuts and fruit to symbolize hope during the winter months. Nowadays, many Americans and others worldwide put up a tree, lights, and other decorations to celebrate the winter holidays.
Modern-day holiday decorations are pre-packaged and set on shelves for people to buy; a small price for large amounts of joy. But with modern takes on holiday decorations and holiday music playing at your local grocery store as soon as Halloween is over, a question that is proposed almost yearly has become a great topic of discussion at family gatherings and on social media: How early is too early to decorate for the winter holidays?
With the urge for holiday joy, some people will put up their decorations as early as the day after Halloween.
“I think the best time to [put up Christmas decorations] is right after Halloween because usually Christmas decorations take a lot longer to do than like other ones. You kind of have to just do it little by little over the course of November and December because then when December comes around you basically have everything already up,” sophomore Logan Hansbarger said.
Since Christmas is the most popular holiday in the United States many people like to spend a lot of time and money on decorating. This extends to trees, small knick-knacks, and even light displays.
Light displays, extending from the tradition of lighting up trees and houses during the winter months with candles, have become a staple in decorating for the holiday season.
“I do this tradition with my mom, my sister, my aunt, and my grandma where we all go on a little Frankenmuth trip and when we get home, my dad has the lights set up for us when we get home so it’s like ‘oh what a surprise’ because I don’t put my lights up before Thanksgiving,” junior Fern Sigurani said.
Although some want to put their decorations up before Thanksgiving, many say it is too much time to have these decorations up.
“I feel like it’s too early [before Thanksgiving] because if we do it after then we have a whole month where our lights will be up, so it makes sense to put our lights up the day right after Thanksgiving,” Sigurani said.
For most, the week after Thanksgiving is the prime time for Christmas decorating.
“We put up decorations around December 7th every year. It’s the perfect time for decorating because it gives you a break between Thanksgiving and Christmastime,” freshman Caleb Miller said.
Though students may not agree on exactly when to put winter holiday decorations up, many can agree that the budget-busting, flashy holiday season is a great time for wintery fun with your loved ones.
