Christmas seems to start earlier each year. But that's not necessarily a bad thing

It’s that time of year again! It comes around every year, and there seems to be no way to stop it. Of course, I am referring to Christmas.

You know that Christmas is close when the stores begin to put up the holiday displays, artificial trees and decorations sometime around the end of August. That always seemed so wrong. To sound like my grandparents, all the stores used to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to distinguish from one holiday to another.

That seems to have been lost over the last few generations, and that is too bad. There was a rationale, in that Thanksgiving was a different message from that of the Yuletide — but they seem to have merged into one long period where family and friends gather together. That part of the message is very OK with me.

But part of me still harkens back to the days of shopping around Christmastime when I would go with my parents to McLean’s or Fowler’s and see all of the window displays, or to hear the holiday music coming through speakers throughout each store.

To hear Nat King Cole singing Mel Torme’s “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” always brings the spirit of the season of little closer. However, in today’s world, the old rules seem to have morphed into a new reality of putting up our holiday wares even sooner and for longer periods of time. Maybe it is that need to evoke the heart of the season, or to avoid doing all that work as white snowflakes make their way to the earth. Whatever the reason, and given the last few years under the rule of the pandemic, there is a new reality.

As a historian, I should buck that trend, revert to the days of old and follow traditional patterns. It would seem only appropriate. As I said, I should do that. Yet, I am not this year. I am falling into the more recent trend of earlier holiday decorating. I am not saying that it is right or proper and that everyone should be doing that. No, it is more personal for me this year.

Last Dec. 20, I had total left knee replacement and came home from the hospital on Dec. 21. I did not want the surgery at that time, but I could no longer stand the pain and inability to walk without support. The surgery went fine, although the recovery period is always longer than one would hope. I was stuck in our basement bedroom for Christmas, relying on a walker and the invaluable support of my wife and daughters to get up to move. I was lucky that they found what can only be described as a poor relation to Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree to put on the desk in our room.

I sort of lost Christmas last year, and this year, I have already started on the interior decorations of my home office. I must admit to a guilty pleasure. Many years ago, a friend gave my wife and me a ceramic building of a public library. I always swore I would not be a collector, but through the years, that one building has grown to village/city with streets, people and, in my mind, stories of the people who would have lived there. It now fills a six-foot table and, this year, occupies a space in my office.

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A three-foot tabletop tree adorns the 1810 sea chest of my ancestor, and is adorned with many ornaments of historical landmarks and buildings I have visited over the decades. From the battlefield of Gettysburg to Mount Rushmore, it is my own personal American history map. The lights will go on each evening, and seasonal music will play at times. I am determined not to miss the season this year, and to enjoy that feeling that comes along with this season.

I hope this is not shocking or too personal. I can only wish that whatever holiday you celebrate during this season — Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza — that you take the time to enjoy it. Each one is special to so many people and bring us closer together. Now back to my village.

Gerald Smith is a former Broome County historian. Email him at historysmiths@stny.rr.com.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Christmas decorations and shopping start earlier each year, it seems