As we approach multiple holiday seasons, the question “when is it too early to decorate?” comes to mind. For many years, I have seen neighbors decorate for Halloween starting from early to mid-September. Their inflatable witches and overuse of spiderwebs sticking out like a sore thumb in the summer-scented air. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween. It’s been one of my favorite holidays since I was a kid (although some of the creepy animatronics had me running), but if it’s still warm when Halloween decorations are being put up, then it’s too early. Halloween is a spooky season, when the leaves start to die and the wind becomes brisk. Decorating too early takes away the haunted vibe of the unofficial holiday.
Just as bad as putting up decorations too early is leaving them up longer than they should be. Driving around my hometown, I would see Halloween decorations still up until late November, early December. If another holiday passes and the decorations are still up, it’s too late…
This same argument could be made for Christmas; although, that’s a more extreme case of decorating early, and I’m not talking about people’s houses. I’m talking about the stores.
As soon as we hit November, stores start selling Christmas decorations, right next to the Fall and Thanksgiving decorations as if to mock it. Sometimes, Halloween wouldn’t even be over yet when the stores would start to sell Christmas decorations. Spirit Halloween would still be open! If it’s still Halloween, it’s too early for Christmas.