Hooray for Nordstroms!!!

I start with a thorough cleaning the weekend following Thanksgiving, maybe putting a few decorations out that Sunday. Then the following weekend I get the tree, and fully decorate. I love Christmas, I love Christmas decorations (and music, and baking, and shopping... etc.), so I like to live with them and enjoy them for the whole month of December.

I'm now a customer for life because of this....

lol I'm now a customer for life because they've Ed Hardy t-shirts. lol (jk) I think the whole 'Hallowismas' phenomena has more to do with what's happening with our culture nowadays... We'd rather go from one party to the next without stopping to be inconvenienced by family and awkward 'thanks giving'; specially when it's a holiday where nobody gets treats or gifts.

Write that down, it's good for you.

I put them up the first part of the second week of December, and when I lived alone, the stuff was down Christmas night. Now, with a husband and and son, the stuff stays up until New Years day, but it drives me nuts!

We put a tree up around Dec. 2nd, and put it down after New Years day...

Three cheers for Nordstrom's! I knew I liked them for a reason.

@Djluckyonline, I think it's more that stores hope you'll start shopping for the holidays early and thus spend more than our society wanting to skip Thanksgiving. I hear nothing but gripes about seeing holiday decorations prior to Thanksgiving.

I saw that on my way to work this morning. It's very refreshing.

I just saw those signs last night and they really cracked me up. Chicago's Magnificent Mile altogether was less decked out than I would have anticipated. Individual stores were festooned to the gills, but the streets weren't covered in lights yet.

The day after Thanksgiving is my family's traditional day to get out the decorations. It's a day for sitting around in pajamas, eating copious leftovers, and sorting through boxes in the basement while trying to avoid being the one untangling lights on the front lawn.

Right on Nordstroms!! I hate that Thanksgiving always gets overlooked in most of the stores.

Yeah no holiday decor at Nordstroms till after Thanksgiving. But the empolyees have work all day and night on Thanksgiving to set it up. Thats sad!

When I was a kid, we didn't turn on the Christmas lights until my sister's or my birthday (December 12 & 13). I don't think we decorated until around that date, either. We always had real trees, so those went up about a week before the 25th and came down around New Year's.

I believe they did this last year as well- I think it's great!

When you think about it, it's excellent marketing. They get credit for having some integrity, and the signs make you practically giddy with anticipation for their holiday decor and wares. Excitement = shopping frenzy, right?

not before Thanksgiving. often Christmas eve now. (at my mom's)

this year i'm puttin 15 cb2 bulbs on my metal panel. i bought them on clearance for this purpose last year. never done my own tree, just a snowflake ornament.

i can't wait!

Yes for Nordstroms!

My mom and I were out somewhere and looking for thanksgiving decor last weekeend and we didn't find ONE THING. It was absurd!! I love Nordstroms for doing this...it's the way it should be done.

Hooray for Nordstroms!
I have actually seen Xmas decorations up in September this year! Ridiculous. I couldn't believe my eyes.

There are people who are boycotting stores who have Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving. Hmm... not a bad idea... Would probably help to tell a manager why you're walking out of the store without buying anything. Maybe they'll get the hint...

i was raised in a catholic household, so the christmas season didn't officially end until Jan 6 - Though my famil isn't particularly religious, our decorations stay up until that day.

As for getting them put up... I remember my grandma bringing us a tree on dec 24, because no one wanted to bother looking for the decorations. Usually the decorations go up the 2nd week, because having decorations before that seems a little too soon

When I was a kid, we put up our tree and other decorations on Christmas Eve.

Oh and about holiday traditions:
There were candles and some decorations up starting 4 weeks before Christmas. As kids we had an advent calendar with little tchotchkes every day (we had to take turns). Very exciting stuff.

The tree was decorated in the locked living room on Christmas eve along with the whole living room. Then the candles (yes, candles) on the tree and everywhere else in the room were lit and we kids paraded (there were 4 of us) into the room, singing christmas chorals. The Christmas story was read and we took turns opening and giving presents.

The decorations came down on Epiphany (6. of January?).

Today, we start decorating sometime after Thanksgiving, depending, but decorations still come down by Epiphany.

I've been saying this to my roommate for the past two weeks. He wants to set up Christmas stuff early. Not happenin'.

ONE HOLIDAY AT A TIME.

amiebarber8's comment reminded me of an advertisement I've heard recently for Party City. They appear to be trying to extend Halloween through Thanksgiving by selling pilgrim and Indian costumes as well as turkey hats!

My family tends to wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving for Christmas stuff. Putting the tree up that Saturday is the "thing" for the weekend every year at my mother's house--seriously almost more important than Christmas dinner! All the decorations come down on January 1st or 2nd.

Yeah, I don't really want to see Christmas decorations until December. We usually leave our white icicle lights up until the first week of January, and I would leave them up longer out of laziness and because I love them, except my boyfriend starts making noise about it.

Go Nordstroms!

I won't put anything up under and Thanksgiving. I am one to complain every year about seeing things up to soon - especially lit up vs just put up. This year I will begin Thanksgiving weekend. I am holding a party in December this year and want to get a start on decor so that I can fiddle around with it some and get everything else done that i need to do in December for party and general December business.

@moddog
Usually the decorations are set up by an outside company (not Nordstrom employees). I've had a few friends that have done holiday decorating for other department stores and they got paid well and look forward it.

I really get very desperate about this every year. I'm from Dominican Republic and we usually decorate in october and remove the decoration mid january (we dont celebrate halloween or thanksgiving). So after coming to live to the US it is hard for me to wait after Thanksgiving and as i love christmas decoration so much, I decorate right after halloween..

The worst is the Christmas decorations and displays in my train station. Seriously? We have a budget crisis people, why are we paying extra for the tree and wreath lights and the moving displays?? Retail stores can do whatever they want (it annoys me to no end but they're footing the bill), but my train station's decorations really make me angry.

i was so grossed out - a week before halloween (yes, mid october!) i went to macy's and they were full frickin' force with the christmas music and decorations. it was such an affront on all my senses, i had to flee!

gads i love nordstrom!

I saw Christmas decorations in early October and am hearing Christmas songs now in the stores. It makes me rebel against any shopping for that reason.

When I worked in advertising at Nordstrom, this was my very favorite ad that we ran each year and we would get inundated with mail for it. My family always waits until after Thanksgiving. It's a great holiday on it's own and a month of Christmas is sometimes more than enough.

Stores are bad enough but there seems to a creeping tendency for residential Christmas decorations in November. A condo association puts up a tree in the social room before Thanksgiving--"because people who have Thanksgiving parties expect decorations". I agree that decorations for Thanksgiving are nice-- but they're called chrysanthamums and cornocopias.
Maybe the use of artificial trees has exacerbated this. If you have a real tree it would be dry by Christmas if you put it up at Thanksgiving.

Not one thing Christmas until Black Friday. The exception this year is I am making our felt stockings and got to working on them last week.

I've seen lots of Thanksgiving decorations around though, especially in food and cooking related stores.

Just hung my blue tinsel Stars of David on the front doors this morning.

I wish my neighbors felt this way. Day after halloween and they had they had their halls decked with Christmas decorations. It just seems weird to do it before Thanksgiving. We usually take the things down the first week of January.

Being Jewish pays off sometimes, I guess.

I don't mind Christmas creeping SUBTLY in AFTER Halloween, since retail seasons precede the calendar ones. But the decor can, and should, precede the piped in carols!

What bugs me more is when stores rip down all signs of Christmas and Winter before New Years.

Sidenote/Rant:

PLEASE let's not adopt the whole "Black Friday" thing.
I REALLY hate the terminology, and all its connotations.

I love the holidays but going full hog BEFORE Christmas is just too much. That said, if one is doing a major yard display, those can take up to a MONTH (sometimes more) to get set up but please don't turn them on, with music et-al until Thanksgiving at the EARLIEST.

As for me, I will begin tonight with finding a home for the reel to reel deck, other stuff to make way for the tree (afticial) and stuff to come out tomorrow.

I will get the lights on the balcony this weekend unless it's just too nasty but will not turn them on until Wednesday night as I'll be heading to Mom's right after work and won't be around to turn them on Thanksgiving eve but they will be on a timer to come on at dusk, off after I think 6 hours, I'll get the tree set up and the lights on it, but not turned on until after Thanksgiving as by then, I'll be putting up the ornaments and will have my Mexican angel hung on the door.

All gets taken down on or just after New Years.

And I should add, I will play Christmas music much of the time up through Christmas itself, once Christmas is finished, they get put away.

My grandmother and mom decorate on the weekend after Thanksgiving - some years cutting the tree while the turkey roasts has been the tradition.

Now that I have my home and traditions, I like to wait a little longer - but after Dec 1 I'm hunting for best Christmas tree sales.

I applaud Nordstrom - not only for waiting, but for making their delay into a great marketing asset. ;-)

Actually, "black friday" used to mean a good thing--when businesses finally started turning a profit. Red ink in the ledgers meant debt, black meant profit. Of course, after last year's Walmart fiasco, it's different.

I actually had to put up the Christmas decor 2 weeks earlier this year because of a promotion we're running. It was always the week after Thanksgiving and then down after New Year's.

At my house, I do the first week of December and then down after January 6th.

we put christmas stuff up on thanksgiving - so i guess we're guilty of two holidays at once.

patrick, what's the deal with "black friday" and all its connotations? i really don't know. and i googled it ;) but still don't know.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday that's been overrun by the overcommercialization of Christmas. Let's celebrate one at a time.

I can understand that it's difficult to string Christmas lights outside in December in the Midwest, but even if they're on the buildings and trees early, they don't need to be turned on until an appropriate time.

wow, i am SO glad Nordstrom has taken a stand! I was wondering the other day if the state we just moved to doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. I mean really, even the grocery store lots are decorated with wreaths and candy canes already!

I set up the Christmas tree and put out the menorahs at the store I work at on November 25 at the VERY earliest. I will probably put my funky new peacock feather wreath up at home in early December.

I make myself wait til Dec. 1st to put up Xmas decorations, but I wait a little while after that to get a little tree.

excellent - made me laugh

I adore this!

My mom bought live wreaths from someone at work for Relay For Life, and since she bought me one I now have a wreath on my door as of a few days ago.

My bday is Nov 29 and my parents always got the tree the wknd after my bday every year, so we do the same.

We've made it our tradition since being together to watch Christmas Vacation as we decorate our tree, or as I decorate the tree and my husband hangs up one ornament and then plops down on the couch to watch the movie. I do have to give him credit for putting the lights on the tree though.

What commercial outlets and retail stores do has no influence on my decorating my home.

When I was growing up in a suburban subdivision, the neighbors across the street would spend the day after Thanksgiving setting up the four wired-for-sound angels around their front yard fountain. Then they would blast Tom Jones and Englebert Humperdinck songs through the angels, never Christmas music. This generally went on until about two weeks into the new year. Now I live a block away from the Hells Angels' NYC headquarters. It ain't the holidays until the Angels deck their fire escape with lights and tinsel, hang a wreath, set up the PA system and let loose with the Bachman Turner Overdrive greatest hits record they've been playing for the past five years. But at least they don't do it until mid-December.

We're military, and often have family in town at various times the week before Thanksgiving, running through mid-January.

Our tradition is while I'm preparing the turkey on Thanksgiving, my dh grumbles about putting up a tree, then sneaks out and discreetly starts bringing it in and putting it together. After the turkey is in the oven, my kids and I pretend to be surprised, and start "fluffing" the tree. That afternoon, after the Thanksgiving dinner is over and cleaned up, we start decorating the tree.

We usually keep the tree up until around January 12 - a long time, but with the constant flow of family, it works for us, and gives us a chance to have Christmas with all our family - even if it isn't on or around the 25th.

yet another reason why i love love LOVE nordstrom's. hopefully more retailers will follow suit. doubtful, though.

i LOVE christmas decor. all the twinkling lights...

anytime after halloween works for me. (here in Canada we celebrate thanksgiving in early/mid october so the two, christmas & thanksgiving, are not so close together to overlap.) so here - everything gets ample decor time :)

That right there officially makes Nordstrom my first choice department store.

I put my Christmas decorations up the Friday after Thanksgiving, when I awake from my nap, after shopping on black Friday. Why not, we're off work anyway.

i'm Canadian, so i'm not about to start decorating after our Thanksgiving in October.

but when i do bother to decorate, i wait until about 10 days before the December event. and nothing comes down until the 8th or 9th because i celebrate the orthodox xmas on January 7th.

I really dislike that Thanksgiving in America seems to get passed over for Christmas. I like to decorate for Christmas the first week in December and I take down decorations the first week in January.

I haven't decorated in the past, I've always felt that I spent a lot of time and money on my regular decor, why would I replace it with stuff I don't like. I am seeing some things I would consider this year, so maybe I will have to change my stance.

When I was growing up, we always decorated the first day of Christmas break since we would all be home.

As for Nordstrom's sign, if I didn't already love them, this would seal the deal. I saw a Christmas section in Macy's in September and was disgusted. I hate that most stores put out the Christmas crap the day after Halloween or earlier.

juju73--

Then you aren't watching Food Network, which has been on full Turkey Alert since November 1.

queenbee--

Yeah, I understand the origins of the term, but it has a negative sound, demeans the holidays even more, sounds too much like the Great Depression, and is an inside/accounting term that retailers are now MARKETING. Hate it. Just saw a Sears commercial that had BANNERS in the store saying it, and promoting "Black Friday deals" on Saturdays.

Yeah, no.

yeah, we do the turn-on-the-christmas-bing-crosby, make some hot cocoa and watch everyone happily look through the christmas bins while i chip away at building the xmas tree (that we got when we were first married 10 years ago). i did it as a little girl and now my little kiddies do it too. awww. oh, and all on black friday. and through the weeks, we grab white computer paper and cut snowflakes and tape them everywhere. we were inspired my ELF with will farrell (sp?).

We don't decorate till the first Sunday in Advent (this year it's 11/29), and we take down the decorations on Epiphany Sunday. But I'm old school Episcopalian.

I quit decorating about three years ago. At least on the full scale decorating list. I have a 7' bamboo with a string of white lights, a lighted star top and the current year's dated ornament, a string of lights across the front of the house and red ornaments on red ribbon hanging in each section of the windows and glass doors in my kitchen. If this is done by the end of the first week December, it's soon enough for me. We celebrate Xmas Eve and ALL decorations come down Xmas Day because I'm holidayed out!! And yes, my name is Ms. Scrooge!

When I was growing up, the outside lights would be put up close to Thanksgiving, only because we lived in the midwest and didn't want to be putting them up when there was a ton of snow on the ground.

Beyond that, the tree and all other decorations were put up on December 1st and were taken down on January 1st. We'd have hot chocolate, put on Christmas music, and decorate the entire house as a family and doing that is one of my fondest childhood memories.

Decorate Dec. 1st, take it down Jan. 6--the real end of christmas

I must be a real Scrooge but there is no way I could look at Christmas decorations in my home for 4 or 5 weeks. We decorate one week before Christmas and take down around New Years. I also avoid the stores (crowds) like the plague. I have been around for many Christmases and I am so turned off by the commercialism and greediness of it all. Give me a quiet, intimate Christmas with family and friends.

As a former Visual Merchandiser for Nordstrom, I believe that they have always waited until the day after Thanksgiving before any Holiday displays and trim are on view. The Holiday trim is installed by the Visual Merchandising team and any store employees who volunteer to work on Thanksgiving. Occasionally an outside group is allowed to come in and help in order to earn money for their organization.
I still work in retail, and I don't love all the Holiday decorations being on view so early. However, I understand that most stores do not have big enough stock rooms to store all the merchandise so it must go out onto the sales floor upon receipt. Also, there is a short time span to sell this merchandise, as it is almost always on sale at 50% off or more the day after Christmas and the stores must make room for new merchandise. In this economy especially, they need you to see the holiday merchandise now in hopes that you come back later, after Thanksgiving to purchase it, before they start running sales on it. I think last week I saw price reductions on Christmas trees at Target already! They just got them in, what, a week ago!

I like that idea from Nordstroms... I used to work at a department store and it was ridiculous setting up for Christmas at the beginning of November.

If I were in America I would definitely wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, but since I'm Canadian I decorate after Remembrance Day is over. I just put up my little tree this past week because I couldn't wait any longer and it had been a week since Remembrance Day.

My mom waits until December begins and we used to have a "Lighting of the Lights" party on the first Saturday in December to turn the outdoor Christmas lights on with all our friends :)

I manage a boutique, and I refuse to decorate the store before Thanksgiving. (We don't have large things like Christmas trees, so thankfully storage isn't an issue.) I usually don't bother decorating my home until it's actually December.

Tiamat_the_Red is correct about the origin of the phenomenon; it's called "Christmas creep" and a "Peanuts" special mocked it back in the '70s.

Incidentally, Thanksgiving was changed from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday in 1939 to extend the Christmas shopping season and therefore give the economy a little extra boost.

Waaaaaaayyyyyy down here in Australia, I go by the tradition of Christmas Decorations up on Dec 1 - and they MUST be down by New Year - I usually do this New Year's Eve afternoon with the kid's help. The New Year must be embraced with a 'clean slate' I feel!

I was raised in New Zealand, in a not particularly Christmassy family - no idea how I come to feel so strongly that this is 'the way it should be'!

Hooray for Nordstrom's!! I'm so over Target and their "Halloween over here, Christmas over here" at the beginning of October!

We will probably go get our Christmas tree this Sunday after we get back from visiting family out of state. My husband insists on having a real tree, therefore I insist on getting it as early as possible so it doesn't seem like as much of a ridiculous waste of money. But we can't buy it before Thanksgiving because we also believe in one holiday at a time.

I actually enjoy ignoring Christmas at my house. No decorations. Ever. That is what makes me happy.

The day after Thanksgiving is when I usually go Christmas Crazy. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday but decorating for Christmas is something that I love to do and probably the only thing I enjoy about the holidays. Since I am Puerto Rican, I like to keep in tradition and take everything down after Jan. 6 which is 3 kings day in PR. Everything goes down on the 7th. Happy Thanksgiving!

we grew up with the old family tradition - christmas tree goes up christmas eve and stays up through the 12 days of christmas.

given that the day-after-thanksgiving decorating really feels like jumping the gun to me. fortunately, we have an early december birthday in the house - it makes a good addition to the "one holiday at a time" rule, and gives a little buffer between thanksgiving and christmas.

@polaroidmoment--
I saw on another thread that you had long lusted after Denby's Imperial Blue. I have a set I am looking to re-home, as I have decided to go all-white in my new house. I've got 11 dinner plates, 10 salad plates, 13 cereal bowls, 9 rim soup, an oval platter and oval baker. No mugs or cups/saucers as I have a glass set of that. I live in SF bay area and could ship it to you. I'll take hi-res pics first so you can see the condition. Email me at lselchau (at) gmail.com if you're interested in talking about it. I'm willing to part with these for a very reasonable price and they're in near-perfect condition...4 years old but they hold up so well since they're stoneware.

Now, for my 2 cents on decorating. I never put anything up before about December 5th because I completely agree with the Nordstrom's approach that it all starts waaaay too early. It's more fun to relish it for a shorter time, methinks.