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Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 10 Nov 2017, 09:45
by timv
The earliest I've come across Christmas goods on sale in the supermarkets (always the worst offenders for starting it early) is the first week in September! It seems to be a bit better this year, but I still think there should be an unofficial pact for the sake of commonsense to keep off putting the displays out until early November. Spreading the cost over three months or so and hence putting out piles of stuff early may be 'customer responsive' in modern jargon, but still makes you feel fed up with Christmas hype by mid-December.
It's probably a lost cause, but every year I wish the adverts would be a bit more realistic and not make so much of 'Christmas snow' scenes, seeing as it virtually never snows (in southern England anyway) in mid-December. If anything, it is usually milder then than earlier in the month. Apart from Christmas 2000 which I spent 600 feet up a hill in a remote Welsh village, the last time I remember snow on Christmas Day (in Sussex) is 1970. The scenes in Richard Curtis' film 'Love Actually' of a pre-Christmas blizzard at Heathrow airport were particularly daft - and in real life people would have been panicking about getting stuck not excited! I suppose it was Charles Dickens and the creators of the first Christmas Cards in the 1840s behind this association, plus the fact that it does snow at this time of year more often in New England in the US so the American 'Christmas industry' thought it suitable.

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 10 Nov 2017, 09:57
by Courtenay
Not to mention how daft it is that we always have Christmas cards and decorations with snow scenes in Australia, where it REALLY doesn't snow at Christmas time. :shock: The silliest of all was a number of years ago when I lived in Brisbane, where in the square outside the City Hall, there was a giant artificial Christmas tree covered with giant artificial snowflake shapes. Even apart from it being summer in December, that's one place where it doesn't snow even in winter... Brisbane is in the sub-tropics. :roll: :P

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 10 Nov 2017, 18:09
by Wolfgang
Who knows, Courtenay, maybe an ice age is coming again...

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 10 Nov 2017, 20:54
by Rob Houghton
I always remember that I went out on Boxing Day to a Boxing Day Sale, and they were stocking the shelves with Easter Eggs...!! :shock:

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 10 Nov 2017, 21:07
by John Pickup
I object to all these big stores having their adverts aired on TV before we have commemorated the war dead on Remembrance Sunday. Can't we show our respect to the war dead before we are subjected to these ridiculous, overblown, tedious adverts?

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 11 Nov 2017, 11:43
by floragord
pete9012S wrote:Wow!
May I be the first to wish you and your family a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year floragord.
How kind of you, Pete!, thank you very much! May I wish you and your family a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year too!

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 11 Nov 2017, 13:35
by Rob Houghton
Happy Easter! :lol:

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 11 Nov 2017, 21:51
by Darrell71
I'm in Portland, Oregon right now, and the local Fred Myers has a Merry Market with all Christmas stuff ready. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it didn't all come out till early December, and Christmas is my fave holiday, but come on.

But what really struck me, is the weather. There's a mountain called Mt.Hood nearby, (around 11000 feet I believe), and the base, yes, THE BASE, is already covered in snow. I kid you not, there's snow at around 4400 feet. It usually doesn't snow there till late December.

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 11 Nov 2017, 22:30
by IceMaiden
Rob Houghton wrote:I always remember that I went out on Boxing Day to a Boxing Day Sale, and they were stocking the shelves with Easter Eggs...!! :shock:
My brother works in a large grocery store, he says that just before Christmas Eve they get a big order in - of Easter Eggs :( . So sad, no thought whatsoever to the real meaning of Christmas, just 'that's this one almost out of the way, onto the next'. Really cheapens it in my opinion, ok for Halloween or Valentine's Day, but Christmas being used as a commercial gimmick isn't right.

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 12 Nov 2017, 13:00
by floragord
We're well ahead with the Christmas cards and shopping as we have so many gifts to buy, wrap and pack to post off to farflung locations, including Mongolia... Amazingly there are pre-Xmas sales at most of the major stores in-house and online, of up to 60% off a lot of items, cheering for the buyer of course but can only presume people just aren't in spending mode yet? :? Maybe waiting for Black Friday to stock up?

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 12 Nov 2017, 15:20
by Rob Houghton
I can honestly say I only buy a few Christmas cards and gift wrap in shops. I'm very much NOT into Christmas shopping - and rarely do any 'in real life' - only online. I pretty much buy everyone's present online as they are cheaper and easier to find. No wonder many of the shops are empty! 8)

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 12 Nov 2017, 15:32
by Courtenay
I only have a handful of people I give gifts to at Christmas — mainly my immediate family — and in this case, I'll be going to Australia in January and will take my family's Christmas presents with me (to save postage), so I have a few extra weeks to shop for them! :wink:

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 14 Nov 2017, 14:45
by floragord
Sounds a great idea! - I sent off parcels to Australia yesterday which came in between £11 and £15 per item for postage :roll: , pleased to have them on their way though, as our small local country post office gets packed out if there are 5 customers in the place :shock: , so the next few weeks will doubtless be a crowd scene. I went into Haverfordwest for a few items this morning and it was already busy with Christmas shoppers, I was glad to finish my errands and head for a well-deserved coffee by the river :)

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 14 Nov 2017, 15:17
by Courtenay
Ooer, yes — I've had gift parcels from Mum and Dad (usually including my favourite biscuits and snacks that aren't available in the UK) where the postage cost them more than the contents of the package!! :shock: Well done on getting yours posted early, Floragord.

Re: Gets earlier every year?

Posted: 14 Nov 2017, 17:40
by floragord
Yes, job done without a tight squeeze in the tiny PO! We have frequently winced when parcels arrive via Australia Post at the cost of postage, between $40 - $85 generally which makes Royal Mail look positively reasonable :mrgreen: