When Does Christmas Season Start?

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/twelve-dates-of-christmas

https://books2read.com/The-Twelve-Dates-of-Christmas

https://www.amazon.ca/Twelve-Dates-Christmas-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/1772992518

Single Bells

https://www.bookswelove.com/shop/p/single-bells

https://books2read.com/Single-Bells

https://www.amazon.ca/Single-Bells-Joan-Donaldson-Yarmey/dp/0228628385

When I was a child (not quite pre-history) Christmas season started when our school put on the Christmas concert for parents. We children practiced our roles in plays and choirs and got our costumes organized by our parents (mainly mothers). The concert was held on a school evening about mid-month and most of us and our families walked to the school for the event. Santa appeared when the concert was over and we each received a bag of goodies from him. We were all excited to see Santa and each of us happy with what was in the bags.

Dad would go and buy our real tree, since there weren't artificial ones, about a week before Christmas and put it in a stand of water. We would decorate it and that was the only decorations in our house and most houses in our neighbourhood. No one had outdoor lights. Some of the stores put up decorations in their windows and painted scenes on their windows.

Nothing much changed until I was in my teens, when we added a few more decorations around the house and Dad and some other homeowners hung outdoor lights on their houses.  But, because television channels were limited, there still wasn't much advertising for toys or other gifts. People would go to the stores and wander around looking for the right toy for their children, the right clothing or piece of jewelry, or tool, or household appliance for other members of the family. The types of gifts and costs were limited.

But nothing good lasts for long. Soon stores put the Christmas decorations on their shelves in November and then in October, and now in September. They even start playing Christmas music in September. Television advertisers bombarded parents with what they need to buy for their children and then switched to bombarding children with what they should want from Santa. This is even before Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en.

When I was a child, the Christmas hype lasted about two or three weeks and then we had the gratification of Christmas morning. Now the hype lasts for months and many people get hype fatigue so that by the time Christmas actually arrives, they just want it over with.

So then, why am I advertising my Christmas novels now, in October and before Hallowe'en? My sister and I wrote both of them and now we have a third one coming out November 1st. Since I only post on the 24th of each month, this is my chance to start promoting it, and the first two, and gives readers time to check them out.