Just curious about this as I've noticed it's becoming more and more of a thing for people to say Christmas is over right after Boxing Day and to take their decs down round about that time too.
The reason I'm curious is just that it differs so much from how I remember Christmases as a child in the 1970s. I'm in my 50s and although there was always a build-up to Christmas it never used to start anywhere near as early. The adverts might have been pushing Christmas from about October or November, but in terms of decorations going up, Christmas music being played, etc - not so much until we got into December. I also feel like there was more of a distinction between Advent and Christmas itself back then (despite the plethora of advent calendars around today! 😄)
These days far more people seem to start saying 'it's Christmas' as soon as it gets to December, and consider it to be over and done with by Boxing Day. When I was a child it was advent until Christmas Eve, and then the Christmas period pretty much lasted until Jan 6th, encompassing New Year's as part and parcel of the season, with many/most people leaving their decs up till then. And to this day, the period from Christmas Eve onwards is my favourite bit, because all the stressy preps are over and it's time to just relax and enjoy the festive season. For this reason I'd never take my decs down before Twelfth Night, as old-fashioned as that probably makes me. 😅
None of this is being said in criticism of current traditions, btw - I know times change, and people should celebrate Christmas exactly however they want to, or not at all if that's their preference. I just find it an interesting phenomenon how the dates seem to have shifted so to speak, also curious to know if others around my age remember 'bygone' Christmases the same way I do. (Oh crikey, I said 'bygone', next step's a rocking chair I guess. 😅)
Thoughts?