Christmas Creep Is Mutating At Walgreens: "Halloween Trees?" Seriously?
It's bad enough when people send us pictures of Halloween decorations mixed in with Christmas ones, but a "Halloween Tree"? What the hell is a "Halloween Tree?"
Wikipedia says The Halloween Tree is a novel by Ray Bradbury, but somehow I don't think this is what he had in mind. Maybe the Halloween decorations are mating with the Christmas trees?
(Thanks, Darrell!)
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Christmas decorations don't make sense either if you think about it. A pine tree has as much to do with Halloween as it does with Christ's birth.
While everyone is tightening their household budgets, I'm betting "Halloween Tree" will be the first item to be cut.
Don't be hatin' on the Halloween Tree! Just about the onliest thing keepin' me sane in this crazy economy are my blood-dripping skull candles and the creaky-casket-haunted-house CD I've got running as background music all month. Plus, celebrating Halloween in big way REALLY pisses off the neighborhood Bible Bangers...so...it's ALL good.
I wish that skull was wearing a Santa hat.
Never underestimate the level of crazy possessed by people who love to collect ornaments. They will decorate anything.
When do we start getting Saturnalia creep?
I think this has something to do with Sleipnir, cuz he's just scary.
Let just call it Fourth-of-July-Valentine's-Christmas Tree and have the damn thing in the living room all year long.
Maybe someone is a big fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas?
I Feel bad for retailers this year. Perhaps they will lobby to stop the madness that occured by our leaders. My prediction is this "holiday" (what ever that is) season will be the worst on record.
Please say this will lead to xmas-trees being used year round to decorate for different seasons, like those dumb stone geese... that would be great for our economy, right?
And we wonder why everyone is in debt?
Aha! Another salvo in the war between Halloween and Christmas over which is the better celebration of capitalism.
They are either "Holiday Trees" or maybe it is to celebrate "RamaHanuKwanzMas".
Techmo says Xmas decorations have nothing to do with christs birth(meaning christmas has nothing to do with the birth of christ)
Hurf says But christmas has nothing to do with the birth of christ
Techmo says in a very PC way, NO SHIT!!!! that's what I just said.
Hurf says Doh! my bad.
Well...
Since "Christmas" trees have a Pagan origin (anyone heard of Yule?), and Halloween is a Pagan festival, I guess there could arguably be SOME connection.
Somehow I don't believe the powers that be at Walgreens had this in mind however! I think it's just another attempt at a creative way to extract money from consumers in these hard economic times.
BTW the above commentors are absolutely correct: much of what we do in the Western world to celebrate Christmas has nothing to do with Christ's birth (and actually originates from Pagan ritual practices, especially the act of decorating a tree with lights and ornaments).
@Dawnrazor: That's kinda like saying that there's no difference between native americans and chinese because they're both non-european. There is no such thing as "the religion of paganism" after all, pagan simply means "not christian".
It's hard to tell from the pic and I'm sure as hell not visiting in person, but "usually" "Halloween trees" are black, not green. See? It makes them spooky.
Throw on some orange lights and glow-under-black-light bats, and voila! more crap to buy and store.
I love Christmas, and Christmas decorations, but have absolutely no desire to put up a "Halloween tree" and use decorations that are only good for about a month. Christmas decorations can come out either just before or after Thanksgiving and stay up through mid-January without looking terrible (in a home, not a store). And some of them are generic enough to stay out year-round without screaming "Christmas."
Although.... I might buy a half-price "Halloween tree" on Nov 1 if I'm feeling spendy AND if I've cleared out room in the basement.
You put up a Halloween tree so during the night, a bunny will leave wrapped turkeys and stockings filled with cranberries and firecrackers.
A holiday is when we celebrate and remember something, not what our greedy capitalistic system says it is.
Business has one purpose: To get you to spend money. They twist the meaning of any holiday and get you to spend. Easter? Candy! Halloween? Costumes and candy! Christmas? Feel guilty unless you get everyone you know something you can't afford and they don't want! Thanksgiving and Labor Day? Sales!
See what they did there?
This Christmas, I'm going to celebrate and remember the pivotal figure in human history and NOT spend money on gifts or trees or lights simply because commercials tell me I have to.
@vastrightwing: It might be the worst on record for retailers, but could the BEST on record as far as families are concerned. With folks placing less priority on the consumerist aspects of the "holidays" perhaps they will instead focus their energies into simply enjoying TIME spent with those they love. With less emphasis on consumption/gift-giving, anxiety/stress levels will be lower, people will be more likely to maintain a sense of humor, and the unnecessary real and figurative clutter that comes with buying excessive "stuff" will be much diminished; I predict that this will ultimately make the holidays MORE enjoyable and restful for many families.
I haven't seen the movie, but did anyone make a Nightmare Before Chrismat reference? That was my first thought.
Anyway, both holidays involve giving gifts to children.
@TecmoTech: Maybe because the Christians just stole our own decorations for themselves. But this...this doesn't make sense by -any- stretch of the imagination.
Okay, peoples. listen up. I usually despise holiday creep, but IN THIS INSTANCE, it is legitimate.
The Halloween Tree is an invention of Ray Bradbury's - he wrote a story about it that was later turned into a TV movie. Disneyland itself has put up a Halloween tree in tribute to the old man (you can google for pics if you want) but the Halloween Tree is legitimate.
Don't be hatin.
That is all.
I have nothing better or worse than capitalism to celebrate on holidays; usually I'm celebrating having a day off work.
But I won't decorations for any holiday, let alone fake trees on halloween.
@Difdi: However Pagan has also been adopted as a moniker for a lot of Wiccan ideals of which Yule is one apparently.
Halloween tradition in my family? Goth Weekend in Whitby. Woohoo!
@GuinevereRucker: Halloween to me isn't about candy. I won't argue the dressing up though - I bust out my finest velvet and go go Goth Weekend, which is a weekend of being with my (brilliant) in-laws and friends I don't get to see much outside of Whitby.
Yes I'm mentioning it a lot. I'm excited! We couldn't afford to go to the last two :(
In NOLA we do Mardi Gras Trees, so why not do Halloween Trees as well?
I love this idea, but really, now...why must they use a painted X-mas tree?! It would be far more wonderful to have a tree that looked like a twisted hand, or something else gnarled and nasty; at least it wouldn't scream "I'm desperately cheap!" like this one does.
Oh well.
@Difdi: I guess I should have chosen my terms a bit more carefully. It is true that the word "Pagan" is often used simply to mean "non-christian", but many (most?) modern practitioners of Wicca use the term as a descriptor to identify their spiritual/religious practices (most Wiccans I know do go out of their way to avoid referring to their spiritual practices as "religion"). In many circles, the word "Pagan" is simply a nonspecific term for any practitioner of ancient faiths/rituals which predate Judaism, Christianity, and Islam including for example, Wicca, Sumerian mysticism, Celtic mysticism, Nordic witchcraft, Magick, and even certain aspects of Freemasonry (particularly the York rites leading to the Knights Templar or 96th degree).
My point was simply that many of the aspects of the Western tradition of celebrating Christmas are heavily influenced by much older religious/spiritual rites/practices which can be loosely termed "Paganism".
@CaitlynZephyrus: You know, you don't HAVE to spend money on these holidays at all, if you don't want to. If you do it, obviously it must be worth it to you, in whatever form it takes, even if it is a waste of money.
we had a halloween tree when i was akid. it wasnt a plastic pine-esque tree like that one, just a small tree made of wire. looked like a dead oak tree, and we hung little wooden cut outs of ghosts, witches, cats, bats, and pumpkins on it. it was like ... 8 inches tall.
It's the nightmare before Christmas! Yippy!
Ohhhh, so that day has finally come. I have been predicting the 'Halloween' tree for several years now. There are 'Easter Trees', and orange Halloween lights, it was only a matter of time before the halloween tree got created.
Ahhhh.... capitalism at its finest!
I have seen the end...no one was spared, not even the children..
I am completely for the Halloween Tree! If we can consolidate all of the years' end media-hyped holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, X-Mas) Maybe the poor folks in this country will only have to spend a ton of money ONCE a year. We can go door-to-door dressed like turkeys and pilgrims begging for candy, come home to a feast, pass out from sugar coma, then wake up and open indulgent gifts! All in one holiday. GO HALLOWEEN TREE! Sparkle away.