New York Times, 1908: 100 Years Of Christmas Creep!
Reader Annie spotted this early Christmas ad while browsing through the New York Times Machine. It's from November 11, 1908.
"I'm not sure if this counts as Christmas creep, but it's definitely pre-Thanksgiving."
Scandalous.
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Comments:
Well, to be fair, the postal service wasn't what it is now back then, was it? Advertising christmas cards early back then doesn't seem awful.
Just like I'm ok with christmas creep in stores like Costco, where it is for business owners to get their stuff to be ready to set up *their* business come time, or in stores like Tuesday Morning where, lets face it, they're just weird (but I love 'em).
Target, Walmart, Fred Meyer, otoh, yeah, I didn't need to see christmas ornaments last month.
@Zach, the Amateur Photographer: oh, i can't wait for the day i can hear the twelve days of christmas twelve months out of the year!
i almost blew my own brains out while working at a store that started playing christmas music in october. to this day, even hearing a song by bing crosby makes me bang my head against the wall repeatedly.
I sent this story to this guy, maybe he can use it in his next "victrola-cast":
@nicemarmot617: To be honest, for the first 2 or 3 years I saw those commercials, I just said to myself "WHAT THE HELL IS JARED?!?"
@FrankTheTank: My thought exactly. I've been sick of the Creep posts for about a month. Most of our stores had Christmas (save the music) well before the Creep stories crept in.
@huadpe: There's a lot of debate about that. This article:
Claims that the last Thursday in November was established as the official holiday by President Lincoln on October 3, 1863.
This one:
Says that Congress declared it in 1941.
Another article I read, which unfortunately now I cannot find, says that the declaration by Lincoln only made it "standard practice, but not law" whereas the Congressional declaration in 1941 (during which FDR was president) made it law.
For the most part he is right. From what I understand most items where hard to find. No Ebay, No over night, etc.
Exactly , I'm trying to figure out when it's OK for stores to start advertising Christmas. If the shopping season starts the day after Thanksgiving wouldn't the buildup for it start weeks before that?
@nicemarmot617: My boyfriend and I were watching tv the other night and one came on. While we were walking out to the car later, I was like "He loves me more than your husband loves you because HE WENT TO JARED!!" I mean.. isn't that what those commercials are saying?
ITS A WORTHLESS PIECE OF COMPRESSED DINOSAUR!
@DarianDaedalus: My friend's halloween costume was "A Christmas Tree" because Target had a bunch of Christmas stuff out on display before Oct. 31.












Ahh...those were the days... (not that I would personally know, not even my great-grandmother was alive then)
One century later and Christmas creep starts in September! In four hundred years, if my math is correct, it'll start in January.
Just think, year-round Christmas ads, songs, and products (but not gifts) - yikes.