Cultural Commentary
Christmas in July: The Gift That Keeps on Giving aka My Suggestions for More Holidays we Should Celebrate Twice a Year
Every year, my family and I lather ourselves up with sun screen, dawn our most cherished bathing suits, and gather around the barbecue grill to sing Christmas carols. That’s right — seven months after the real thing, we celebrate Christmas in July! It’s everyone’s second favorite holiday, right after Christmas in December aka “OG Christmas” aka “Jesus’s B-Day”.
What was once a relatively obscure holiday centered around love and family has blossomed into a headlining event for many retailers. It seems like every year the classic Christmas in July commercials start earlier, as do the sales and specialty products. I saw Bath and Body Works released their always anticipated CIJ candle line in May this year!
With the overwhelming success of the holiday, I asked myself why it is that we don’t do Hanukkah in July? I’m not Jewish myself, but I am a fan of equality. It might be nice to also make Kwanzaa a bi-annual tradition, if people are interested.
In fact, I argue that we should make room on our calendars for Thanksgiving in June, but because it might overlap with Flag Day, Father’s Day, or Juneteenth, we should also do Flag Day, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth in January, just to be safe.
We can watch the ball drop (or maybe raise if we want to mix things up?) on New Year’s Eve in July and then nurse our hangovers on New Year’s Day in August. Halloween in May also has some strong potential, and Cinco de Mayo in November has a nice ring to it.
But we don’t need to do Valentine’s Day in September. These companies have really taken a once beautiful story and turned it into a anxiety-inducing, money-guzzling monster gorging itself on expensive gifts and gaudy decorations and consumerism. I’d prefer to not subject myself to that twice a year.
