Halloween? At Christmas? Moooo!
This is an allusion to the Berkeley Farms commercials that were prevalent in the San Francisco Bay Area and which went as follows: “Farms? In Berkeley? Moooo!” We feel similarly in reading the “Christmas Madness” infographic. It seems that, in contrast to the traditions of Christmas in America, many other countries observe or practice the traditions of Halloween at Christmastime. We suppose that this is very ironic because, in the United States, Christmas has become less and less a religious holiday, and more of a merchant holiday (much as it is in India) and that Christmas signs and promotions appear before Halloween arrives.
Christmas does appear to be more and more of a merchant holiday (although one that has Christmas traditions). The infographic also reports that 30-35 million Christmas trees will be sold in the United States. This is about 10% of the population. This, at first glance may appear to be low, but you have to realize that there are many single people (both young and widowed). There are also enormous numbers of homeless people, and in the state of California, it was recently reported that about ⅓ of the population are dependent on government subsidies for food. Thus, it is primarily the family households who buy Christmas trees. On the other hand, a great many businesses purchase Christmas trees, so the percentage of individuals purchasing trees may indeed be quite low.
At times, it seems that there is no more Christmas in Christmas. Moooo!
Likes: We enjoyed reading the Christmas traditions which were new to us.
Dislikes: It would have been better if it had elaborated upon the crazy and outrageous gifts.
Created by: Parents Magazine