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Thanksgiving Comes First

Some of you may recall how Jim Sullivan got fed up last year and started demanding action against stores and radio stations that get all Christmasy before Thanksgiving.

He's getting an earlier start on his campaign this year:

... Can you imagine how sour the pusses of some corporate execs would be if they received printed-out copies of blogs that say "Thanksgiving Comes First"? What if all of us called or wrote some radio station, telling the programming director that we decided to stop listening? If we all wrote a "letter to the editor" at our local papers, we could definitely expect some to be printed. ...

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Well you need to start early because Christmas is already here in some places!

I was at Big Lots in Lynn (for those that havent been its not quite as "classy" as Target but not quite as "thrashy" as Building 19) and I saw they had their Halloween stuff in the seasonal section, and the next row was Thanksgiving and then the next few rows were already Christmas themed.

I refuse to acknowledge Christmas until the weekend closest to December 1st as per family tradition of using that weekend to set up the tree (fake tree, dont worry they had the same one for like 25 years, so while its "bad" for the environment it cant be that bad if they keep it for that long)and putting up decorations. Im not going to boycott any stores, or write any letters because they are only giving the people what they want, and Im fine with that brand of capitalism.

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First, thank you, Adam, for the linkage.

Now, ShadyMilkMan (who is apparently on my side in spirit, and I thank him) says:

"Im not going to boycott any stores, or write any letters because they are only giving the people what they want, and Im fine with that brand of capitalism."

If you choose not to boycott or whatever else, that's certainly OK. It's your right to do so or not. Far be it from me to argue against your right to inaction! However, I will debate your assertion that they are giving 'the people' what they want.

I'm tempted to prove this point by putting up a poll on the front page here, but that would probably be gratuitous, considering the link provided by Adam to my blog. I'd guess, however, that if you asked 100 people if they like having their senses assaulted by Christmas music, decorations, etc., before December 1st, at least 85 of those people would say "no".

If most folks are perfectly content to see Santa ramping up the greed by Veterans Day (or before) in their local malls and whatnot, then I'm wrong in my estimation concerning the level of discontent with these practices. I'd consider myself rightly chastened, if given proof of this, and would be happy to crawl back into my curmudgeonly hole :-)

As you may know, I'm a Libertarian. By definition, this makes me a capitalist. Being one, though, doesn't mean that you have to sit idly by and have your sensibilities bludgeoned come October/November each year. Boycotts, letter writing, blog posting, or whatever other forms of non-violent protest may be undertaken, are not automatically anti-free-market. As a matter of fact, I think we do the merchants a disservice if we DON'T let them know we're displeased. How else will they know enough to do and sell things in a manner that their customers might appreciate more?

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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I wish you the best of luck in your campaign and will thank you if it results in some non christmas before December zones where I can bask in the glory that is autumn in New England without Santa busting his way in a little prematurely.

Essentially my goal is to not buy anything Christmas related until very very very late November (post black friday, not even black friday itself) or early December. I always felt the best way to get to a retailer is to not buy the product they are selling. I would never fault you for boycotting or writing letters as I can only assume that would put an explanation mark on actions like mine (just not buying.)

What I do have a serious problem with is the creeping of Christmas onto Thanksgiving day itself. In other parts of the country places are open for 24 hours on Thanksgiving and that sickens me as I feel that Thanksgiving is the one true time of the year that every person in this country should be able to be with their family/friends/or other people they truely want to spend time with. Kmart, Compusa and Super 88 were all trying to fight Massachusetts on that for the past few years (good riddance Compusa) and for those stores not only do I not buy their christmas stuff in October I dont buy anything from them, shame on them.

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... you're doing what I've asked for, anyway. Not buying stuff is close enough to boycotting for government work.

Thanks!

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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TRUE but I will still buy other items from Big Lots and Target and will shop at those stores for Christmas items when it is more appropriate, I am under a general boycott against the worst offenders. I know it seems like a slight nuance but theres a big difference between boycotting the whole store and kinda just ignoring their christmas section lol.

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So I put up the poll. I have a feeling it might be a little self-selective, but who knows.

I also felt the third option was a must to discuss too. :)

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Yeah, the existence of Christmas Tree Shops has always been an interesting phenomenon. I have no problem with them, by the way. If you go there, you know exactly what to expect. It's being hit with the drek when you go to your local supermarket or mall that bends my brain the wrong way.

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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I can honestly say that I do my best to avoid stores from Veterans Day until the second week of December. I just can't take the xmassification. I'll buy food, but most food stores get going over Thanksgiving before switching to Xmas.

Several years ago, we went into Target at the end of October and were confronted by a whole section of decorations and ornaments. Younger Son, then about six, looked around and said "What? What's wrong with people! It isn't even halloween! Nobody's going to have a tree for over a month. This is crazy!".

Several people looked up, returned ornaments to the shelf, and stumbled off.

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You'd have to send a lot of e-mail and make a lot of calls. There is, apparently, a huge contingent out there that can't wait to hear X-mas music.

Also, I heard on the radio somewhere that retailers are starting the holiday season earlier because of tough economic times. People are living paycheck to paycheck and need to spread their gift purchasing across a longer period. (Of course, they could just save a bit out of each paycheck and spend all at once. Ahh, remember the days when banks had Christmas accounts?)

There may be some benefits to a long holiday season, if it reduces the spike closer to Christmas. Retailers have more predictable staffing and inventory requirements. And, there might be less holiday congestion.

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"Ahh, remember the days when banks had Christmas accounts?"

Mine still does! My credit union offers both a Holiday Club that pays out the first week of November, and a Vacation Club that pays out the first week in May.

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