Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Just Another Day Column for the week of December 1-7, 2002

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Ah, the day after Thanksgiving. Just another day! What am I saying? It's the #1 shopping day of the year! Sales, sales, sales! All the pushing and shoving to get those bargains! I hope I didn't hurt anyone! Our turkey isn't fully digested before the day after Thanksgiving officially opens another Christmas shopping season. This is the first time I ever remember seeing Christmas decorations up in stores before Halloween. In these economic times, retailers are desperate for some sort of profit, so we skipped over the Thanksgiving season and headed for one that will garner in the big bucks, "Commercialized Christmas," for which we can thank the advertising, media, and entertainment industries.

Did you know that until the 1860s, there was no commercialized Christmas? Gift giving wasn't even the primary focus of the holiday. But Macy's changed all that. In 1867, Macy's department store in New York City decided to stay open until midnight on Christmas Eve. They introduced window displays with Christmas themes in 1874 and in 1924 they held the first Macy's Parade. It was called the "Macy's Christmas Day Parade" although it took place on Thanksgiving Day. Santa Claus was there. In fact, Santa has ended the Parade every year except 1933, the only year in which he led the Parade. Was that Macy an advertising genius or what?

Speaking of Santa, our common view of his sleigh, reindeer, and coming down the chimney came primarily from the widely published poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas" or as we know it today, "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Moore. In the 1800s newspapers and magazines couldn't get enough of it. Soon after, Harper's Weekly ran copies of Thomas Nast engravings showing Santa checking his lists, in his workshop, and reading letters. Between 1931 to 1964 Haddon Sundblom created a series of Santa paintings advertising Coca Cola that appeared on the back cover of such publications as National Geographic and Post.

What about the Christmas tree? As people moved to cities, no longer could they just stroll through the surrounding forest and cut down a tree. Do without a tree? You must be kidding. Magazines and stores had programmed people to know that everyone, but everyone had a tree at Christmas time. So the growing and selling of fresh Christmas trees became big business. Why waste time as a family coming up with hand made decorations or stringing popcorn for a garland when you can have your pick of delights from any store in town? And let there be light…. the media had a hey day when President Calvin Coolidge boosted the Christmas tree light business by ceremoniously lighting the first outdoor tree at the White House in 1923, a tradition that continues until this day.

Hand written cards with seasonal greetings were popular so it wasn't long before Hallmark's predecessors came up with printed cards. Now over 2 billion flood our postal system in the U.S. alone.

It could have been "Rollo or Reginald the Red Nosed Reindeer" but alas the Montgomery Ward store in Chicago settled on Rudolph for the poem in a booklet passed out to customers as a keepsake for a Christmas advertising campaign in 1939. Then in 1949 Gene Autry immortalized Rudy in song. And speaking of songs, none of us even dreamed of a White Christmas until Bing Crosby told us to.

Yet, it's hard to fault retailers for the advertising blitz. The biggest shopping days of the year are from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Stores make up to 70% of their yearly revenue in this one month. So in a way, Christ is bringing a lot of employment and income to a lot of people.

I personally love the Christmas music, the Christmas movies, the Christmas books, and the Christmas shopping. Although I must admit my favorite day to shop is the day after Christmas. That's when you can really get the bargains. But I have to keep it all in perspective. Am I shopping because I feel I have to or because I want to? Am I celebrating the season because I feel I have to or because I want to? And most importantly, is what I'm doing giving glory to Christ? Because without Christ, Christmas would be just another day.

©November 2002

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.