It is true; I don't get out much. But even I notice that the retail world goes directly from Halloween to Christmas decorations, totally ignoring Thanksgiving. Every year, the Christmas decor comes out earlier and earlier.

This year I observed Mayfair Mall donned its Christmas decor BEFORE Halloween! I had gone there on Oct. 24th to get my monthly 5# bag of Sumatra whole bean coffee. The mall was decked in reds and greens.

Last Saturday I went to Mayfair again. (Yup, for coffee.) While I did not shop the entire mall, I did walk past many stores and breezed in a few just to look.

Only one store that I saw on the main floor featured an autumn or Thanksgiving theme. That store was Williams-Sonoma, a.k.a. a cooks heaven. Ah, great! A store that acknowledges the season of Thanksgiving.

As I walked through the store it came to me. People cook for Thanksgiving. It is probably one of the major cooking holidays of the year. Of course the store would be pushing Thanksgiving--it is one of the few times a year people cook! Thanksgiving is a BIG day in the culinary retail world. None the less, it was nice to see the displays.

I think it is a sad commentary that Thanksgiving gets squeezed out as a holiday, and more importantly the reason we are celebrating ignored. The day set aside to thank God for His provision has devolved into Turkey Day, football, shopping (I thought I heard a radio ad say Gander Mountain was open Thanksgiving day) and preparing a strategy for Black Friday sales.

Yesterday I saw a Christmas wreath lit on a home. I understand people wanting to put up the decorations while the weather is still nice. But please, can we just hold off lighting them until after Thanksgiving?

Please, comment content should relate to the subject of the post. Although I try to respond to many, do not interpret my lack of a response as agreement.

Links: