With every passing year, Christmas has become more and more commercialized. From gift wrapping to Christmas trees, lights and department store Santas, a pivotal shift occurred from what once was a religious holiday to a holiday centered in commercialism.
Christmas originally began as a Christian holiday: a simple feast in celebration of the Christian savior, Jesus Christ. The importance of the holiday rested on spending time with loved ones and celebrating the religious teachings and life of Jesus.
However, the idea of commercialization is not a new concept: retailers have been using Christmas to prod people to spend money time and time again. The festival now has a nearly two month duration to allow for more spending.
Christmas is becoming less a religious holiday and more a cultural holiday, with its focus shifting more on presents and gift giving than with Bethlehem and the manger. This can largely be attributed using the Christmas holiday for financial gain.
In fact, in 1939, former President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed Thanksgiving from Nov. 30 to Nov. 23 in hopes that the act would stimulate the fragile pre-war economy. The extension of this denoted “Franksgiving” received mixed reviews. Nonetheless, the tradition stuck, and now the United States celebrates Thanksgiving the third Thursday of each November instead of the last.
The National Retail Federation reported that more than 174 million Americans shopped from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday this year, which beat the association’s pre-holiday prediction that 164 million consumers would indulge. In total, this year’s holiday retail sales in the United States are forecast to amount to about 755.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Junior Remy Seaman voiced his frustration with the domestication and secularization of Christmas. “Christmas has been driven far away from its roots of tradition. People have become accustomed to the materialistic mess that is decorations, lawn ornaments, and Christmas candy that they have failed to see the true meanings of Christmas,” he mentioned.
Moreover, Santa Claus has been used as a holiday marketing strategy by businesses. Coca Cola advertisements featuring Santa Claus first began in 1920 in the Saturday Evening Post. In 1931, a more jolly Santa Claus appeared in National Geographic, Ladies Home Journal and the New Yorker among others.
On the other hand, writer of The Coffeehouse Cleric, Alex Rowe, notes the benefits of the commercialization of Christmas. “What is forgotten amidst the complaint, however, is what all this commercialised commotion is for. Why does it happen? Is it not obvious? People are buying presents! Once a year, this widespread phenomenon takes place where people purchase gifts for one other. But it’s often unreflected upon. That’s just what we do,” Rowe explained.
Senior Roshni Patel does not follow the Christian faith, but celebrates the holiday and believes it does not matter what one religiously believes in when it comes to enjoying the season. “I think Christmas is a universally joyous holiday celebrated throughout the world, not so much because of the religious aspect of it, but because of the familial aspect,” she expressed. “It’s the time of year when we get to spend time with all of our friends and relatives without the outside stress of school interfering.”
While many agree that the spirit of Christmas has been lost amidst political or financial gain, several people argue that the commercialization and secularization of Christmas is not hindering the spirit of jubilation that the season brings. Regardless of personal opinion, it is true that most U.S. adults believe the religious side of Christmas is less prominent than in the past.
