I saw my first winter holiday season (aka Christmas) ad on TV this morning

[mahatmakanejeeves]

It was for Donny and Marie Osmond. They're putting on a show on December 7 at the MGM National casino in Prince George's County, Maryland. They were wearing scarves, and there CGI-generated snowflakes falling down the screen.

Then this morning, when I left the Metro, I saw a tote bag someone had dropped on the sidewalk. It was decorated with a snowman, with the top hat and scarf.

Pretty soon, we'll see those commercials with suburban moppets bursting with delight as they see Lexuses and Mercedes Benzes with big red bows on the roof in the driveway.

Ackkk.

[Hotler]

1. Home Depot and Kroger are rolling out the Christmas stuff while we chat.

I remember as a kid the Christmas season didn't start till the day after Thanksgiving.

[rsdsharp]

2. When I was a kid I remember being surprised to see Santa at the end of Macy's

Thanksgiving Parade. (I was apparently a little slow on the uptake back then). In the small northeastern Iowa town where I grew up, city crews would put up the downtown Christmas decorations on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving -- weather permitting. Even then, there was no such thing as "Black Friday," let alone the abomination of opening stores at midnight Thanksgiving, or even on Thanksgiving itself.

Christmas specials typically didn't air until December. As a ten year old, I saw the very first airing of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" late in the afternoon of Sunday, December 6, 1964, after an AFL football game. I found it purely by chance, as I don't remember NBC having promoted it much. Now it might play 2-3 times to much ballyhoo.

I certainly don't remember any Christmas sales as a kid. Retailers figured, rightly, that if you were ever going to spend, it was going to be during the Christmas season. Sales came in the new year, and for Lincoln and Washington's birthdays in February.

This escalation has been coming for a long time, though. Thirty years ago, my wife and I went to a local mall over the Labor Day weekend. One of the anchor stores had already decorated for Christmas. I was shocked. Maybe I shouldn't have been.

[Archae]

3. Our local Big Lots...

has 3 aisles and a few displays with Christmas stuff.

[becca da bakkah]

4. I'm Beginning To Think I'm The Only Surviving Member Of....

....The "Let's Keep Christmas In December Club"! In my family when the Mission Pack dried fruit ads started on TV/Radio, that's when we declared the Christmas season officially underway!