Halloween has come and gone. The ghoulies and creepies can never last! The end of Halloween also signals the end of October generally, and as soon as November rolls around, many people take this as their cue to replace the pumpkins with wreaths to decorate their doorstep. But is this move too presumptuous? Are we moving too quickly from one holiday to the next and never truly enjoying the lingering spookiness of Halloween past? 

Certainly major department stores capitalize on Christmas a tad too early: from the beginning of October, there are already several Christmas decorations hidden in a back corner of the Halloween decor section. I’m of the opinion that this kind of behavior stems from a lack of appreciation of Halloween, which as everyone knows, actually spans the whole month of October. As soon as October ends, however, then it seems fair game to start playing Christmas carols. 

Why is that? Well, arguably major holidays like Halloween and Christmas last two months – Halloween is coextensive with the start of fall in September, as this is obviously ghosts’ favorite season. Therefore, it is appropriate to whip out the Halloween decor by Sept. 1 and remain in this mood until the end of October. Because November is coextensive with the start of winter, and winter is synonymous with Christmas, then it is appropriate to begin Christmas celebrations in November. Knowing how to decorate is a matter of paying close attention to the seasons, which isn’t difficult, as Mother Nature herself will tell you by either not snowing (probably fall through Halloween) or snowing (probably winter through Christmas).

What about Thanksgiving in November, you might ask? I consider this the American version of pre-Christmas – the food for Thanksgiving seems to me to be the same (or nearly the same) as that of the food served on Christmas. It seems appropriate to just lump Thanksgiving into a category of preparatory Christmas. For those who are keen on capitalizing on all decorative potentials, it is appropriate to buy little turkeys and little pilgrim boy and girl dolls to include amidst Christmas decorations. But because Thanksgiving is not as widely celebrated as Christmas, it seems fine to omit such Thanksgiving decorations.