I swear years ago Christmassy stuff never started this early?!

[Spuck]

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas but my fuck it’s early Sept and I’m seeing…

• Christmas threads on here!
• Christmas decorations in shops
• Christmas sections on different websites

I feel like it’s started even earlier this year?!

When I think back as a kid, I vaguely remember not seeing anything Christmas related until Halloween had passed? Or has it always been like this?

As much as I love that particular period, I don’t appreciate it starting this early. It simply is not and actually is nowhere even near, Christmas?!

I worked in a supermarket when I was at uni many years ago and I remember putting Xmas stuff out in September. Probably not as much though.

It's easy enough to ignore if you don't want to think about Xmas yet. I like getting an early start on it all so it's a good thing for me.

I was in a supermarket today and the right side of the aisle was a back to school display, suitcases and paddling pools and the left hand side was christmas chocolate.

I was in Tesco buying back to school stuff in august and there was fucking loads of Christmas stuff with some Halloween crap thrown in around it. It’s madness.

I used to work in media where Christmas in July has been a thing for decades and we were sampling mince pies in a heatwave but there’s no need for anything to hit the shelves until at least early November.

Right there with you OP. It’s nuts. All it does is pile on the pressure and take the joy from it all.

So I am old and was a student in the mid 1980s. I remember going into a department store ( might have been Debenhams) and seeing Christmas decorations out just before term started which would have been mid September. I don't think it was as common though.

There are always Christmas threads on here to be fair.

i was surprised to not find any Christmas stuff in Waitrose today. Although I did buy a Christmas magazine! It appears to suddenly be very autumnal (which I’m not happy about) so I decided to embrace it.

I had a friend over from Australia a couple of weeks ago and we went to the Christmas department in Harrods. Which was packed!

It’s almost cringeworthy seeing things in shops and supermarkets though - I know for businesses it’s always been a bit of a money making opp but seriously…? It definitely doesn’t get me excited in bloody September! It’s taking the fun away from it. My DS is talking about it already and doesn’t understand that we still have months yet.

I remember last year feeling so anxious that nothing would be left in supermarkets and toy shops would be empty if I left it too late - which proved to be the opposite in the end but my gosh the way people/the media went on about ‘getting it all in early’.

I know I could just simply ignore it until I’m ready not to, but I can’t help but feel it’s incredibly unnecessary and quite frankly annoying seeing it being introduced early SEPTEMBER!

It helps some people as they can spread the cost over a few months. I like seeing it all.

If you don't like it, just ignore it, there will be plenty left, no need to feel anxious about it all being sold. Unless it this years must have you or something.

*must have TOY

Any talk of Christmas before bonfire night is vulgar.

I used to be 2 months of xmas now its 7.

Nope been like it for years. It's an annual tradition now for me to post the first Christmas bits on shops on Facebook.... Every august for years...

I totally agree. I'm pretty sure Christmas stuff didn't come out until after Halloween when I was a child.

Then it creeped into September and now it's mid August.

Personally it gives me anxiety as i already feel overwhelmed with all the things I have to do and prepare for and this just adds to it.

What should be a fun and relaxing time then becomes stressful and pressurised.

Also, slight tangent. But Halloween wasn't even a 'thing' when I was little. A few sweets and apple bobbing and maybe a bit of face paint- now it's like Christmas mark two. See also "autumn" reefs and home decor. I do actually wish my children had a 90s upbringing like I did. It was so much simpler and happier than the shallow consumerist driven competitiveness of today. I could weep over it (wish I was exaggerating)

I remember advent calendars being out the first week of September in the 90s. Ditto with the quality street etc tins

It’s always been like this. The growth of Halloween as a thing has actually stopped the shops decorating as early. They have to wait until Nov 1st now.

And people were complaining about consumerism just as much in the 90s as they do today. Nothing has changed that much. You were just a child so it all seemed simple to you.

You've got a good point, absolutely. Looking through the eyes of a child is definitely going to skew things I agree. Personally though, I definitely think consumerism and commercialism has increased since the 90s. Halloween definitely wasn't a 'big thing' and certainly no 'autumn decorations ' etc

My birthday is the end of August. It has always started straight after that.

It's like 15 weeks to Christmas isn't it? Or 3 pay days. It's not too early I think.

All shops have seasonal sections. In my experience, Xmas stuff appears roughly around August bank holiday when they are putting away the 'back to school' stuff. At first it is alongside Halloween things, but once that it is over it's full on. When I was working, we had a bit of competition to see who saw Xmas stuff first when they went to the shops at lunchtime. The timing didn't change much over the the years.

I did note that because of the bad weather, shops seemed to scale down whole gardening/BBQ thing earlier this year and all sorts of random stuff started appearing in the seasonal aisles. When there isn't something obviously seasonal to put out, you often find that they will do either a baby product or cleaning product promotion.

Christmas starts imo end of August
And ends Beg to mid February
August is earliest stuff appears in shops and it takes until February to empty shelves of sale stuff 🤨

I actually feel quite irrationality irritated by retail come to think of it. There's almost a piss taking irony to it :

'back to school!' (in early July before they've even broke up for summer)

'coats and winter clothes ' (it's June)

'hello summer 🌞 ' clothes and BBQ etc (it is march )

'easter eggs' (it's December 26th)

It makes my head spin to be honest. Then when you actually want to buy say a summer hat in July, you can't get one because the shops are full of wooly skirts and coats!?

My DH says it's because the shops want to be the first to sell you it , the earlier they get in there the more likely you are to pick their goods. But I think most people must be like me and do a massive 🙄

I think it's been appearing on shop shelves for a long time in September but I saw an advert on TV saying they were showing Christmas movies from September until January and I was like why. So annoying. It doesn't feel as special when it starts taking over half the bloody year.

I agree with you op. It’s utterly ridiculous. Makes me sad that it takes away the fun of it all.

As a kid, I only remember Christmas starting in December. It was more special, less commercialised. I’m sick of all the pressure by the time Christmas is actually here. Each year I vow ‘I’m not doing this next year. We’re going away for Christmas’ but we never do 🤣

Not to mention all those bloody 'Xmas eve' boxes!

Autumn decorations = pure tat imo.
Plus all the landfill waste :(