It seemed to me that "back then", Christmas knew when to start. Even as recently as 1997 I remember the decorations didn't come out until after Thanksgiving. Neighbors wouldn't put anything up, radio stations didn't play Christmas songs, retailers wouldn't touch it until Thanksgiving ended.

This year things went to an extreme, I've been seeing trees in store windows since the days after Halloween! Even neighbors are putting lights up. I understand people want to get into the "spirit" of things...but we're not giving autumn a chance to breath.

I agree. Christmas started at the right time back in the '90s. I remember when Christmas started around Thanksgiving. Now I've been seeing Christmas stuff up around here since at least August. Not kidding by the way.

yep, I think Macy's might have started the tradition by having Santa at the end of the Thanksgiving parade...but that was when Thanksgiving had its own "time" and Christmas had its time as well. Now Christmas overpowers Thanksgiving.

Yes, I agree. It just all goes along with how fast time is going....I can't believe that Thanksgiving is coming up this week already.  I was driving through my neighborhood right after Halloween, and yes, there were people with their Christmas trees already up in their windows, and tons of lights on the outside of their houses. I know myself, I never start decorating for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over.

Yes, I agree. It just all goes along with how fast time is going....I can't believe that Thanksgiving is coming up this week already.  I was driving through my neighborhood right after Halloween, and yes, there were people with their Christmas trees already up in their windows, and tons of lights on the outside of their houses. I know myself, I never start decorating for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over.

I never start decorating for Christmas until after November is over.

In fact, we always get our tree sometime between the 8th and 15th of December...that way the tree lasts till Epiphany.

I never start decorating for Christmas until after November is over.

In fact, we always get our tree sometime between the 8th and 15th of December...that way the tree lasts till Epiphany.



we used to get a real tree....but last year, we decided to look for an artificial tree. We found a really nice one, that when decorated, appears to be real....infact, here's a picture of it from last year.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/rapunzel_1689/christmas2005003.jpg

It seemed to me that "back then", Christmas knew when to start. Even as recently as 1997 I remember the decorations didn't come out until after Thanksgiving. Neighbors wouldn't put anything up, radio stations didn't play Christmas songs, retailers wouldn't touch it until Thanksgiving ended.

This year things went to an extreme, I've been seeing trees in store windows since the days after Halloween! Even neighbors are putting lights up. I understand people want to get into the "spirit" of things...but we're not giving autumn a chance to breath.


I agree, and I've heard the same from other people online in the last few years, so I know it's not just me! ;)  I'm presuming the Christmas-ization is becoming earlier now because they're lumping "the holidays" and "Christmas" together. In a way I see their point, because after Halloween (which is sorta the polar opposite in terms of what we associate it with), when we're approaching Thanksgiving, it's basically The Holidays.

Don't get me wrong, I love the spirit of the season as much as anyone, and it's nice to savor it, but I agree it can get a little ridiculous. Especially with radio stations playing Xmas songs for almost two straight months (there's only a few good stations I like around here anyway, so that's now one less for about 1/6 of the time, lol).

Don't get me wrong, I love the spirit of the season as much as anyone, and it's nice to savor it, but I agree it can get a little ridiculous.

I agree. Especially when it's "rushed into."


Especially with radio stations playing Xmas songs frink almost two straight months (there's only a few good stations I like around here anyway, so that's now one less for about 1/6 of the time, lol).

Personally, I think that's ridiculous. There's one station in the L.A. area that's been playing nonstop Exmas carols between Thanksgiving and Christmas for the past five years (rather than the usual pop music)...if you ask me, they'd lose listeners that way! I'm suprised no one has complained to the station about that. ::)

we used to get a real tree....but last year, we decided to look for an artificial tree. We found a really nice one, that when decorated, appears to be real....infact, here's a picture of it from last year.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v397/rapunzel_1689/christmas2005003.jpg


We ALWAYS get real trees. Fake trees just don't have that fresh smell to them. Btw, I think there's a thread about artificial vs real trees in one of the other forums. I won't bump it up yet.

We ALWAYS get real trees. Fake trees just don't have that fresh smell to them. Btw, I think there's a thread about artificial vs real trees in one of the other forums. I won't bump it up yet.



well, we have 2 cats that like to mess with the pine needles....so that's another reason that we decided to get an artificial one.

ya at walmart they have a whole room of christmas stuff and its all ben there since august began

We ALWAYS get real trees. Fake trees just don't have that fresh smell to them. Btw, I think there's a thread about artificial vs real trees in one of the other forums. I won't bump it up yet.
Waste of time getting a real tree here. Too much of a fire hazard and dies too quickly. But they are way much nicer than them fake trees.

And I believe the true "Christmas Period" begins around December 14, ends December 25 (or 26, if you count Boxing Day as part of Christmas). IE: The 12 days of Xmas or something. November is way too early. It's just one holiday, one day out of 365 (or 366) in a year. Why so much hoo-har about it?

I agree, and I've heard the same from other people online in the last few years, so I know it's not just me! ;)  I'm presuming the Christmas-ization is becoming earlier now because they're lumping "the holidays" and "Christmas" together. In a way I see their point, because after Halloween (which is sorta the polar opposite in terms of what we associate it with), when we're approaching Thanksgiving, it's basically The Holidays.

Don't get me wrong, I love the spirit of the season as much as anyone, and it's nice to savor it, but I agree it can get a little ridiculous. Especially with radio stations playing Xmas songs for almost two straight months (there's only a few good stations I like around here anyway, so that's now one less for about 1/6 of the time, lol).


Thanksgiving used to be a much bigger deal in the up to the mid '90s, as I remember. Like people put up Thanksgiving decorations in their windows (now you just see that at elementary schools) and supermarkets did much bigger displays. Some of that, though, must just be that I was in elementary school then and the last four months of the year were just a succession of holidays. I personally think it is SO vulgar to do anything for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I was waiting at the vet's office yesterday and they were playing Christmas music and I almost cringed...they were like, "Christmas has come really early this year on 106.7!" and when you turn on the TV, Christmas stares you in the eye. Hanukkah is on Dec. 16th-23rd or so this year, but we don't do all that much to celebrate it. We do "family" things like go to museums and movies and such. I started noticing it this year around a week ago...I read a newspaper article about how early retailers have been pushing Christmas in the past five years or so, and a poll conducted actually revealed that it annoys people.

Isn't Christmas such an anti-climax when it's been building up since October? I know I'm speaking from a non-American point of view, but I've always noticed - and been slighly irked and perturbed myself by the fact - they like to bring in the Yuletide cheer early. They hang up the decorations in October, Christmas trees, decorations and whatnot are sold in the department stores - of course it's mainly an advertising thing. You don't usually hear people talking on the street talking about Christmas or the New Year in October. So no, at least here, I remember it's always been that way.

I agree, and I've heard the same from other people online in the last few years, so I know it's not just me! ;)  I'm presuming the Christmas-ization is becoming earlier now because they're lumping "the holidays" and "Christmas" together. In a way I see their point, because after Halloween (which is sorta the polar opposite in terms of what we associate it with), when we're approaching Thanksgiving, it's basically The Holidays.

Don't get me wrong, I love the spirit of the season as much as anyone, and it's nice to savor it, but I agree it can get a little ridiculous. Especially with radio stations playing Xmas songs for almost two straight months (there's only a few good stations I like around here anyway, so that's now one less for about 1/6 of the time, lol).



Yeah, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and possibly New Years Day have all been lumped together as 'the holidays'. I agree that in the '90s, you did used to see alot of decorations just for Thanksgiving, but you don't really see that as much any more. We don't put our Christmas tree up until at least after Thanksgiving.

Isn't Christmas such an anti-climax when it's been building up since October? I know I'm speaking from a non-American point of view, but I've always noticed - and been slighly irked and perturbed myself by the fact - they like to bring in the Yuletide cheer early. They hang up the decorations in October, Christmas trees, decorations and whatnot are sold in the department stores - of course it's mainly an advertising thing. You don't usually hear people talking on the street talking about Christmas or the New Year in October. So no, at least here, I remember it's always been that way.


That might have to do with there being less of a conventional autumn in Australia.

I live in Greensboro, NC and for some odd reason, I can pick up the Raleigh-Durham area's soft rock 93.9 on my radio. It's about 80 miles away. ??? Anyway, that station's been playing continous Christmas music since the beginning of November. My local station just started.

Yeah, very little seems to be made of Thanksgiving nowadays, too. If you took a walk around here and didn't know what time of the year you were in, there'd be no way to tell it was nearing late November unless somebody said it was.

I wonder if it's just laziness among some people, since we spend alot of time on Halloween and Christmas. Thansgiving falls in the middle, so people are like Ah well, it's more like Christmas anyway and don't pay it too much mind in terms of decorating, etc.

Waste of time getting a real tree here. Too much of a fire hazard and dies too quickly. But they are way much nicer than them fake trees.

And I believe the true "Christmas Period" begins around December 14, ends December 25 (or 26, if you count Boxing Day as part of Christmas). IE: The 12 days of Xmas or something. November is way too early. It's just one holiday, one day out of 365 (or 366) in a year. Why so much hoo-har about it?

That's X-mas. The true "Christmas Season" begins around Christmas Eve and ends on Epiphany (January 6)...sorry if I sound like Ellipsis. I wonder if he'll confirm this for us. ::)

I live in Greensboro, NC and for some odd reason, I can pick up the Raleigh-Durham area's soft rock 93.9 on my radio. It's about 80 miles away. ??? Anyway, that station's been playing continous Christmas music since the beginning of November. My local station just started.

Since the beginning of November?? Are you serious?? ??? :o I'm sorry, but I just ain't down with that.

Since the beginning of November?? Are you serious?? ??? :o I'm sorry, but I just ain't down with that.

It's true. They've been starting earlier and earlier each year. Maybe it's some weird Raleigh-Durham thing. :-\\

^It's a San Jose thing, too. The South Bay's main soft rock station, 96.5, just switched to an all Christmas format a couple days ago. Since there's fewer good stations around here anyway (i.e. the "newer oldies" station KFRC, just turned into a dance/pop one), that's annoying for two reasons, lol.

Your average "soft rock" station's current playlist has alot of the music I like from the '80s and '90s (and some older), they at least should put the Christmas stuff on another station. ;)

Your average "soft rock" station's current playlist has alot of the music I like from the '80s and '90s (and some older), they at least should put the Christmas stuff on another station. ;)

They also contain stuff from the 00s; I know my soft rock stations do. But I agree with you about holiday music; it should be on another station. ;) At least with Music Choice, they have a channel entitled "Sounds of the Seasons"; they'll probably be playing Christmas music any day now. In years past, they've kept it going until Epiphany.

I live in Greensboro, NC and for some odd reason, I can pick up the Raleigh-Durham area's soft rock 93.9 on my radio. It's about 80 miles away. ??? Anyway, that station's been playing continous Christmas music since the beginning of November. My local station just started.


Forgive me for my ignorance, but just what is 'Christmas music' anyway?  ???

Forgive me for my ignorance, but just what is 'Christmas music' anyway?   ???


Could be anything from Frosty the Snowman to Joy to the World.

Could be anything from Frosty the Snowman to Joy to the World.


Ohh...they play songs like that on popular radio? Must be an American thing then...

Ohh...they play songs like that on popular radio? Must be an American thing then...


They do on A/C soft rock stations, I know they do it here. I listen sometimes in the winter.

They do on A/C soft rock stations, I know they do it here. I listen sometimes in the winter.

My local oldies station would do continuous Christmas music too. I doubt they'll be doing it this year because they went under a few months ago. :\'(

yep, 106.7 started super early this year, though I enjoy hearing "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul and Linda, I wonder how I'll feel by mid December when I've heard it for the 7 millionth time.

I wonder if the decline of Thanksgiving had anything to do with the decline of the traditional family unit. Back in the 50's and 60's it was a huge deal...an excuse to have a family reunion and it was quite common to have as 20+ family members over and have multiple turkeys, that's what I hear from my own parents. EVERYBODY would come from every corner of the country. But people are having less kids nowadays and the divorce rate is high...so Thanksgiving has almost become a painful holiday for some, or a mundane dinner for others who just happen to have a small family.

Our get together this year will have around 15 people, to my parents this is small considering what they grew up with.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Home_alone.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Home_Alone_2.jpg

Cool Christmas films from the 90s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR_1e4wRpBE

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Home_alone.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Home_Alone_2.jpg

Cool Christmas films from the 90s

Yep, I still enjoy watching them to this day. I'm sure there were others, but these two jump out at me immediately.

I am bumping a Christmas topic, but it's not Christmas time


Ok then

It seemed to me that "back then", Christmas knew when to start. Even as recently as 1997 I remember the decorations didn't come out until after Thanksgiving. Neighbors wouldn't put anything up, radio stations didn't play Christmas songs, retailers wouldn't touch it until Thanksgiving ended.

This year things went to an extreme, I've been seeing trees in store windows since the days after Halloween! Even neighbors are putting lights up. I understand people want to get into the "spirit" of things...but we're not giving autumn a chance to breath.


I see Christmas decorations frequently in stores at the same time as Halloween. It irritates me!

Halloween is my favorite holiday!

I hate how Christmas intrudes upon other holidays and festivities. Oh how I despise seeing plastic reindeer next to Halloween costumes in the store!

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a prime example of why these two holidays should not be mixed.

Begone with you merry decorations during October! :[

Ok then


1. I NEVER said that!

2. It's not Christmas time? By that logic, what are we doing commenting on 1990s threads? It's not the 1990s after all...and I'm not "bumping", I'm adding to a topic that has talk about how Christmas used to be, but not about Christmas items of the 90s such as movies.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Home_alone.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Home_Alone_2.jpg

Cool Christmas films from the 90s


saw all of them except Home Alone 3.

I see Christmas decorations frequently in stores at the same time as Halloween. It irritates me!

Halloween is my favorite holiday!

I hate how Christmas intrudes upon other holidays and festivities. Oh how I despise seeing plastic reindeer next to Halloween costumes in the store!

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a prime example of why these two holidays should not be mixed.

Begone with you merry decorations during October! :[


I know Interia, supermarkets do the same thing, they rush the holidays just to get it out of the way.

I know Interia, supermarkets do the same thing, they rush the holidays just to get it out of the way.


It aggravates me. I love Halloween; I have since childhood.

Christmas is so commercialized. Corporations just want to get people in the "spirit" of the holiday fast so they rush to put Christmas merchandise in the store as soon as possible so we will keep our pocketbook open for gifts and decorations longer.

It aggravates me. I love Halloween; I have since childhood.

Christmas is so commercialized. Corporations just want to get people in the "spirit" of the holiday fast so they rush to put Christmas merchandise in the store as soon as possible so we will keep our pocketbook open for gifts and decorations longer.


The "Christmas Season" should only be late November + December. And the other way, some places I've noticed Christmas decorations still up in February, maybe even March. At least wait until Thanksgiving and not keep your decorations up after New Years is well gone. For the record, the Halloween threads and this Christmas thread revival was inspired by my special occasion interest at the moment in general, not to start things early. My intention is that when these times do arrive, people have enough references on these threads already to get into the "spirit". I'm considering a Thanksgiving thread but I don't know if it's broad the same way that Christmas and Halloween are.

The "Christmas Season" should only be late November + December. And the other way, some places I've noticed Christmas decorations still up in February, maybe even March. At least wait until Thanksgiving and not keep your decorations up after New Years is well gone. For the record, the Halloween threads and this Christmas thread revival was inspired by my special occasion interest at the moment in general, not to start things early. My intention is that when these times do arrive, people have enough references on these threads already to get into the "spirit". I'm considering a Thanksgiving thread but I don't know if it's broad the same way that Christmas and Halloween are.


I don't see why Christmas just can't stay in December and leave the other months alone honestly. -.- The only reason corporations push this "holiday spirit" junk is for their own profit line. Christmas has lost its true meaning in my opinion.

saw all of them except Home Alone 3.


You even saw Home Alone 4?

Bah humbug!



Cat

You even saw Home Alone 4?

There's supposed to be a 5th installment this year, for TV only. Again, it will feature a different cast and set of characters than the previous three... and ABC Family is scheduled to air it sometime in December.

It aggravates me. I love Halloween; I have since childhood.

Christmas is so commercialized. Corporations just want to get people in the "spirit" of the holiday fast so they rush to put Christmas merchandise in the store as soon as possible so we will keep our pocketbook open for gifts and decorations longer.


We'll get into the spirit when the time comes.

I don't see why Christmas just can't stay in December and leave the other months alone honestly. -.- The only reason corporations push this "holiday spirit" junk is for their own profit line. Christmas has lost its true meaning in my opinion.


I agree, everybody wants the rush like get it out of the way sort of thing and not care what anyone else thinks. ::)

You even saw Home Alone 4?


No I didn't.

http://lawalker.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/the_santa_clause_dvd_cover1.jpg

There's supposed to be a 5th installment this year, for TV only. Again, it will feature a different cast and set of characters than the previous three... and ABC Family is scheduled to air it sometime in December.


This will be bad.  I never saw Home Alone 4 (actual title - Home Alone: Taking Back the House), but when I saw French Stewart was cast as the role of Marv, I thought that was just ridiculous.  Daniel Stern as Marv was comic genius, and nothing against French Stewart, but the minds at ABC Family were smokin' something when they decided there should be a 4th Home Alone. 

This will be bad.  I never saw Home Alone 4 (actual title - Home Alone: Taking Back the House), but when I saw French Stewart was cast as the role of Marv, I thought that was just ridiculous.  Daniel Stern as Marv was comic genius, and nothing against French Stewart, but the minds at ABC Family were smokin' something when they decided there should be a 4th Home Alone.


I agree IMO this coming Christmas, for people that haven't seen Home Alone films before:

First film: Do anything you can to make sure you see this film while you can. Easily one of the most magical films of all time.
Second film: If you liked the first film, this is a MUST-SEE!
Third film: Okay, but a big fall in quality. Watch this if you desperatley want something else to watch.
Fourth film: Trust me, you are better off watching paint dry for a couple hours than watching this. And apparently the main character isn't ever "home alone" here. The characters are the same as in the first two films but different actors. The guy who played Marv in the early films correctly called this an "insult" and declined the offer to star in this. By having the same characters played by different people, and having Kevin 8 again, it insults the storyline and character identities of the first two films and basically ruins the idea of Home Alone being an untainted legacy. Although I suppose we could always just pretend it doesn't exist  8)

I didn't like the first one Home Alone and I didn't like the second one. Why should I watch any of the others?  :-\\



Cat

I didn't like the first one Home Alone and I didn't like the second one. Why should I watch any of the others?  :-\\



Cat


If you didn't like one or two, my guess is you would have a 99.99% chance of HATING four!

If you didn't like one or two, my guess is you would have a 99.99% chance of HATING four!



Yup-which is why I have no desire to see it.



Cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7MwXniOD44

Inspired by the Christmas Day Truce in World War I, but from the 1990s.

This will be bad.  I never saw Home Alone 4 (actual title - Home Alone: Taking Back the House), but when I saw French Stewart was cast as the role of Marv, I thought that was just ridiculous.  Daniel Stern as Marv was comic genius, and nothing against French Stewart, but the minds at ABC Family were smokin' something when they decided there should be a 4th Home Alone. 

I hear ya. I have no desire to see 'em. "HA3" was not really the same, cuz it had a completely different cast and set of characters, and a completely different plotline.

You're right about Daniel Stern as Marv; he played the part well...and he was even funny at times (especially for a villain). I even happened to see the first Home Alone again, for the (insert random number here)th time a couple nights ago on the Fox Movie Channel.
In the second one, I think there is a scene in which he tries to hit on an attractive lady; she gives him a dirty look but after she is far enough away, Marv says, "I think she likes me!"

There's supposed to be a 5th installment this year, for TV only. Again, it will feature a different cast and set of characters than the previous three... and ABC Family is scheduled to air it sometime in December.


There's a fifth Home Alone?! :o I didn't even know there was a fourth! I'm aware of the first 3 though. Love the first. I remember watching it often on VHS when I was a kid. Such a classic! The second one, to be honest, I've only seen parts of on TV, but I think I'll finally get around to watching the entire movie this holiday season. The third one I have seen all the way through when I was in school years ago. Didn't like it then, and still don't like it now. Once was enough.

There's a fifth Home Alone?! :o I didn't even know there was a fourth! I'm aware of the first 3 though. Love the first. I remember watching it often on VHS when I was a kid. Such a classic! The second one, to be honest, I've only seen parts of on TV, but I think I'll finally get around to watching the entire movie this holiday season. The third one I have seen all the way through when I was in school years ago. Didn't like it then, and still don't like it now. Once was enough.


Since you love the first, the second one should be to your liking  :)

There's a fifth Home Alone?! :o I didn't even know there was a fourth! I'm aware of the first 3 though. Love the first. I remember watching it often on VHS when I was a kid. Such a classic! The second one, to be honest, I've only seen parts of on TV, but I think I'll finally get around to watching the entire movie this holiday season. The third one I have seen all the way through when I was in school years ago. Didn't like it then, and still don't like it now. Once was enough.

When ABC Family airs it this December, I may decide not to watch it.

I've seen parts of HA3, though...and it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. NOT because it wasn't a sequel to the previous two, but it didn't really hold my interest the whole way through.