Does Christmas Come Too Soon Each Year?

**All media below is the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools**

A common theme throughout the world is to begin celebrating Christmas before the Thanksgiving turkey is gone. Each year it seems that Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier. Why is this?

Throughout History, Christmas and the ways it is celebrated have certainly evolved. This makes sense because the realities of 1922 are much different than those of 2022. In December 1922, the radio captivated the world, and with it came national accessibility to Christmas songs and broadcasts. Christmas in the 1920s was centered around family and being together. This ideal developed due to the legacy of World War 1 and the “Christmas Truce.” World War 1 was the first example of a global war in modern society. It was an uneasy time for everyone around the world. On December 25th, 1914, British and German forces stopped the fighting and sang Christmas songs and games together. This event established global recognition of the power of the holiday season and left a lasting legacy of the Christmas season on the world.

Is the lasting legacy of the “Christmas Truce” the reason for the early celebration of the Christmas season? In recent years, with the world experiencing traumatic events that we had no idea how to combat, such as covid, the world saw the holiday season as a sense of hope and joy. When we think about it like this and evaluate how happy the season makes the world, it is easy to understand why the stores fill up with holiday decorations in October and why many already have a Christmas tree on Thanksgiving.