Early Christmas decorations = working class

[FaLaLaLaLaaaar]

I know Mumsnet loves a class debate, so thought I’d share an argument I had with a friend last night.

She insists that only working class people put their Christmas decorations up in November, I insisted she’s a snob and class is more redundant these days so it’s a ridiculous argument.

So Vipers, I’ll ask the question as if it is coming from me to make it easier:

AIBU to think only working class people put their Christmas decorations up in November?

Yabu - No, don’t be such a snob, middle class people do too.

YANBU - Yes, it’s a working class thing.

I will be showing her the results of this.

I’m in my 60s, and was always brought up to believe that putting decorations up early wasn’t quite ‘ naice’. No idea why, but I’ve always adhered - until COVID. I love Christmas lights, so come December 1st, up they’ll go!!

Also what's wrong with Home Bargains?

If I had an infinite amount of money I still wouldn't pay more for things just because I could

@RaRaReba

multicoloured lights and no colour scheme for the tree Those are two different things! Multicoloured lights are tacky, but multicoloured baubles are not. Having a matching colour scheme for the tree is what’s tacky. It shows you’ve bought a full set of new matching decorations in one go and don’t have baubles that have been inherited or individually purchased for a high price. Some of my baubles cost £20-40 each, there’s no way anyone but the super rich would buy a whole tree’s worth of those in one go. DH buys me one or two baubles per year as a Christmas gift, some of our baubles previously belonged to our parents.

Having a matching colour scheme for the tree is what’s tacky. It shows you’ve bought a full set of new matching decorations in one go

Does it now?
You know, like with the rest of your house, you can spend time carefully choosing items that match what you already have. It literally took me years to find a cushion to match the others we have on our bed. I say we, I mean me. DH thinks the whole idea of cushions on the bed for when we are out of the room to be absolutely preposterous. I can't say I disagree, but I still wasn't going to settle for any old rubbish.

some of our baubles previously belonged to our parents
Yeah, mine are in their 50's. I don't think I will get a chance to raid their stash for 30+ years.

@Kanaloa my parents are immigrants so the class thing does confuse me. I do have lots of "inherited decorations" but many of them were cheap & unfortunately many have got broken over the years. I do buy a few baubles a year of whatever I like the look of, some are from Liberty, some I've found in the pound shop.

I change my colour scheme though every few years. I'm going multicoloured this year & shock horror I'm going with a white artificial tree! 😱

@RaRaReba

Yes, so it means they didn’t cost much, so you’re likely quite poor or frugal. How does that make it ‘tacky’ though? Tacky generally meaning someone showing poor taste/lack of taste - common, or ‘trashy’ is my understanding of the word.

And yes my parents are thankfully still alive so have a lot of their decorations still.

No I’m serious. If you have a full set of matching baubles they’re probably cheap because otherwise you couldn’t afford to buy a full set in one go. Either that or you’re super rich, richer than MC.

How many baubles are you talking though? surely it's tree dependent & there are nice baubles for sale that aren't £30 each.

@KurtWilde

Home Bargains is where poor people shop. Therefore, things that are from Home Bargains are ‘plastic tat’ and ‘common.’ They are distasteful due to their association with the poor and working class. This will be hidden under such words as ‘common’ and ‘tacky’ but the base feeling is basically that they are cheap and that’s somehow wrong.

I’ve put my tree up today. I usually do it the last week in November, but it’s one job ticked off the list!

I just want my home to be Christmassy and fun for a little longer.
I hate the whole class thing, it’s so outdated.
I have a lovely house, that I own outright, and I work in a supermarket. What would you label me as?? Hopefully working class, I’d be very proud of that.

My lovely (working class Irish) DM bought us a family of inflatable smowmen, 8 feet tall. We put them on the garage roof for a laugh and expected the "tacky police" amongst our neighbours to complain.
Guess what, they loved them.
We are a street of retired lawyers/army officers and doctors.
Our street is now lit up like the coca cola truck most years, but only in Dec, never November!.

Maybe putting them up later has historically come from what the upper classes do, and its just been passed on down the generations that it isn't the done thing and a bit 'common'. i don t think its common by the way, i couldnt give a shit. but maybe thats part of the reason why.

actually @RaRaReba where are you buying all these £20-£40 baubles as the shops I know only tend to have a few in that price range.

Well we live in one of the wealthiest towns in the South East and the most expensive rd in our town ie £5000000 houses plus plus and one of the houses has already got their outside decs up !! They are very impressive and probably cost the same amount as a house in less affluent places ie about £100k …have been wondering what the other residents are thinking!

[quote Kanaloa]@KurtWilde

Home Bargains is where poor people shop. Therefore, things that are from Home Bargains are ‘plastic tat’ and ‘common.’ They are distasteful due to their association with the poor and working class. This will be hidden under such words as ‘common’ and ‘tacky’ but the base feeling is basically that they are cheap and that’s somehow wrong.[/quote]
Ahhh.. in that case I'm entirely tacky and common because I love home bargains and will defend it to the hilt 😂

[quote Kanaloa]@KurtWilde

Home Bargains is where poor people shop. Therefore, things that are from Home Bargains are ‘plastic tat’ and ‘common.’ They are distasteful due to their association with the poor and working class. This will be hidden under such words as ‘common’ and ‘tacky’ but the base feeling is basically that they are cheap and that’s somehow wrong.[/quote]
Well DH and I have 2 degrees, 2 masters, a PhD and a six figure income and we love Home Bargains!
Then again we both grew up in council houses.

Yes me too! Many a bargain for me to bring home 😂

And yes my parents are thankfully still alive so have a lot of their decorations still
Parents don’t need to be dead for you to inherit decorations. Maybe they downsized for health reasons and have a smaller tree. Or maybe some of the baubles on their tree belong to you. My DC own several of the baubles on our family tree, youngest DC has a hand blown glass bauble to commemorate his birth and will take it with him for his own tree when he’s grown up.

@JesusIsAnyNameFree yes quite, that notion is ridiculous...

I’ve got a lot of decorations. I can make three or four distinct ‘themes” from them. I’ve collected Christmas decorations for 25+ years now, and I pick up one or two more every year, usually vintage. Just because my tree looks well curated (and it doesn’t always - some years I do the ‘everything thrown at the tree in joyous abandonment’ look) doesn’t mean I’ve gone out and bought a load of new, cheap tat every year. In fact I do quite the opposite, using everything I’ve already got is integral to my Christmas. My mum still has paper decorations that my grandparents made together 60 or 70 years ago, and she uses them every year.

Oh this thread is pure gold! People now bringing their educational attainments in to it.

a hand blown glass bauble to commemorate his birth

What on earth does that have to do with Christmas, darling? Shall we put a nice sushi shaped bauble on the tree to commemorate your first anniversary spent in a sushi restaurant in Tokyo too?

We put up our tree on the day DD breaks up from school. This is because we recycle the tree from school that they have in the front hall. It's always a beautiful tree and seemed such a shame it got thrown out at the end of term.
With a recycled, private school Norway Spruce I may have reached Peak Middle Class.

There was an article in the guardian a few years ago that claimed real christmas trees are middle class, artificial are working class. Maybe that's where the perception comes from. If you put up a real tree now it would be dead by mid December.

FWIW I think it's nonsensical to apply class divisions to christmas decorations!

I thought the poshos only went up to the Cairngorms to pick up a real tree on Xmas Eve, and from the folk who've been providing them with real Xmas trees for generations? Whilst there they have a good old chinwag with the grandfather who remembers their great grandfather coming up with their grandfather on his shoulders.

Or am I wrong?

@Curtaintassels

Oh this thread is pure gold! People now bringing their educational attainments in to it.

totally!

With a recycled, private school Norway Spruce I may have reached Peak Middle Class.

Or perhaps the school thinks you have low breeding by snatching their tree as term ends so you don't have to buy your own. (Just kidding!)