Where has Christmas gone?

[coragreta]

Every year I say 'Christmas is getting earlier every year' but this year I feel the exact opposite. No Christmas adverts, hardly any Christmas stuff in the shops, no Christmas films on tv. I am starting to wonder if my perception is skewed or if there really is less Christmas stuff around than this time last year.
I specifically remember last year saying 'can't believe all the Christmas stuff and it's not even Halloween yet' and the John Lewis advert first aired 16th November which seemed like ages after all the others last year. I haven't seen a single Christmas advert, not even a dfs delivered in time for Xmas which started in September last year.
Where has Christmas gone? (Or did I imagine things starting in October previous years)

Hopefully back to December where it belongs.

I thought this the other day. I think Halloween seems to be more of a 'thing' now than it was a few years ago so a lot of the shops I was in yesterday had Halloween decorations / sweets etc for sale. I suspect that come the 1st of November Christmas will hit in full force in the shops.

My local Tesco does have Christmas stuff, but they've put it right at the back along the back wall this year, when there's normally a lot more by this point. All the seasonal aisles are currently taken up by Halloween, which normally gets pretty much ignored round here.. so I expect Christmas to take over once that's done with.

It's October!

Yes, Halloween is definitely more of a consumer driven thing now. More people buy costumes, decorate, throw parties etc.

It usually goes full throttle after Halloween now.

There are christmas cards, selection boxes, tubs of Roses etc in the supermarkets so it is starting dont worry. B and Ms has its wrapping/decorations aisle.

Possibly it is no longer a shock it starts so early so you are anticipating it earlier?

I think you are right, there seems to be less Christmas stuff out right now, but it is starting. I was looking at Christmas trees in John Lewis yesterday and bought lights.

There definitely is less Christmas stuff - the M and S near me put out their Christmas cards yesterday

I thought it might be that I'm anticipating it earlier. Maybe it's the Halloween thing, although i don't think Halloween is any more of thing than in previous years.
I'd also like to say that I'm not a fan of Christmas starting early. I'm just surprised it's not as full on as it felt at this stage last year.

I agree I'm usually feeling rather festive by now but the christmas vibe isn't here yet. And I dont think it's taken over by halloween either because that seems very low key as well. Usually our asda do an amazing halloween aisle, all decked out, but this year its just products on the shelves. No fuss at all.
It's all very weird

It’s in my local Yankee Candle shop (where it’s been since September 😬)!

Good god. It's OCTOBER. Months to go yet. Christmas films in October? Get a grip.

My local Waitrose has the Christmas chocolates next to the Halloween sweets.

Our garden Center has set up displays since mid September

M&S had their Christmas department open last weekend.

Boots started 3f2 at least 2 weeks ago.

December is too late for me as I work and like to enjoy the time, not run around getting ready and be exhausted but I would prefer having at least Halloween over.

Didn’t John Lewis waited longer last year because of Remembrance Day?

There's plenty of it around here - at one end the John Lewis Christmas dept., and at the other one of those shops full of the tackiest Christmas tat imaginable - though I shouldn't be rude about it, since I found a set of the old fashioned, soft and twinkly coloured lights there last year.

It will explode after Halloween - a major tat-and-plastic-fest nowadays. John Lewis has a major Halloween display as you walk in the main entrance.
Poor old Bonfire Night - the really Big Thing when I was a kid, is very much in the background now, but presumably that's because it doesn't lend itself nearly so well to mass production of plastic tat. And of course they don't have it in America, from where we've imported the consumerisation (is that a word?) of Halloween.

My ideal would be if Christmas prep started 6th November, so after Bonfire night. It feels wrong to have Halloween and Christmas decorations on sale at the same time.

I’ve never seen Christmas tv advert before November.

I prefer shopping for Christmas gifts before the tat arrives in shops.

I find I get Christmassed out if it starts too early. I was just expecting it I suppose.

The Sony Christmas channel has been going for weeks already and Christmas24 started today, which is earlier than it ever has before so there are definitely Christmas films around. Sainsburys near me has whole shelving blocks of Christmas stuff out (and most importantly, Lebkuchen Stars) & M&S has a lot of their Christmas snack food out. Oh and all the bloody furniture ads are ‘delivery before Christmas-ing’ as well. Christmas seems well on the way to me!

I've been thinking this too. I'm visiting some family in the first weekend of November and I really want to take the presents with me to save £££ on postage. But I'm struggling to find nice wrapping paper and not much seems to be about!

I don't mind if they don't get all the stuff out until November really as it stops the moaners (like the ones on this thread - get out of the Christmas topic then!) but it's not what I was expecting based on previous years!

I agree with pp who said halloween and the start if autumn is getting bigger. My ds loves halloween so we are making it a bigger deal. And pumpkin patches are now everywhere! They make great photos. Then theres the harvest festival.

I really like the idea of celebrating different seasons.

I was surprised to see the Xmas lights up ( though not on) 2 weeks ago in our local ( Outer London ) town centre , and then they were putting up all the gold dangly decorations in a John Lewis . Walked into a garden centre ( with big non plant shop) and it was totally Xmas, though no Xmas music.

I hate it. I don’t hate Xmas at all, but the retail push so early makes me bored with it before December even .

I agree. I've made lots of headway in my present buying, but I'm struggling to find nice wrapping paper at the moment.

Don't worry OP, Christmas hasn't gone anywhere. I've seen countless sofa adverts promising delivery before Christmas. The Christmas movie and music channels have been on Sky TV for weeks now - O know because DD keeps pitting them on and it's driving me slightly bonkers..... I love Christmas, but the build up to it starts around late November for me, no earlier or it's as if Autumn never happened.

The adverts will start on 1st November.

I've been seeing Christmas items in shops since August. They areeverywhere now, to the extent that over the past week I have done most of my Christmas shopping. I bought my Advent calendars last month. One of my friends has already started decorating her house with Christmas stuff.
Costa have switched over to selling Mince Pies and Christmas cake in the past week.

We must be living on different planets. I'm sick to death of Christmas films on TV. I have Sky and Movies24 and 24+ is now Christmas+, ONLY showing Christmas films. Sony Christmas started at the beginning of the month and Channel5 has been showing almost exclusively Christmas films for the past fortnight. If anything its earlier this year.

I don't like to see any Christmas films until December itself and I don't agree with trees and decorations going up until advent. Mine doesnt generally go up until 2nd Sunday of Advent. I'm traditional and believe that Christmas has 12 days. My decorations stay up until the Epiphany. I find it really frustrating when all the Christmas films stop on the 27th December and Christmas seems to get boxed up on Boxing Day. The 27th is still close to the beginning of Christmas.

Starting in mid-November, I will switch over to reading Christmas Novels etc but apart from that, the excitement can wait until Advent.

Wrapping paper is EVERYWHERE.

WH Smith's, Clinton's, Hallmark, Card Factory, independent shops, Next, Boots, BM Bargains, Home Bargains, Primark, Paperchase etc have had them for ages. Between September and the last fortnight.