Thursday, September 11, 2008

Rant Thursday-Does Halloween Begin in Your Town in early September?

CORRECTION, THE FALL INSTALLATIONS I SAW WERE BID ON AS PART OF A FUND-RAISER. (Never mind).

When I took a walk after lunch with my husband yesterday, I couldn't help noticing that people in my neighborhood are already putting up Halloween decorations. Is it like this in your part of town? When did Halloween become a two-month affair? When I was a kid, there were no outside decorations at all. When my kids were kids, only the scary house on the corner had them.

Is there something about Halloween that inspires this new devotion? Or is it just my neighborhood that digs it?


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

IIRC, Halloween is second only to Christmas in terms of money spent on "stuff." No, I have not seen outside decorations yet although my six-year-old has already started asking when we can put ours up. I told him 1 October. Even he's noticed how the next holiday (whatever it is) seems to show up in stores very early. It's fun trying to explain marketing to a 1st Grader.

Patrick Shawn Bagley said...

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. The spookier, the better. That said, the marketing is getting way out of hand. We got a catalogue of Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations (which we didn't request) in the mail just before Labor Day. But don't complain about marketing because that would make you unpatriotic.

Sandra Scoppettone said...

The minute Labor Day is over THEY start descending. THEY are who we call the Pumpkin People. I live in a resort area which also has farms and these farms grow pumpkins. The Pumpkin People buy the pumpkins. Terrible traffic and depressing fields of pumpkins. The decorating starts NOW.

David Cranmer said...

Not too many decorations around here yet. When I was a kid, it seems Halloween decorations didn't go up before October was well under way, but planning for a great costume started at least a month in advance.

Linda McLaughlin said...

No decorations here yet in Anaheim that I've seen, but the stores are full of stuff. It won't be long, I'm sure.

Linda

Melissa Amateis said...

Umm...Halloween decorations already? I don't start putting up any decorations (if I put them up at all) at least until the first week in October.

pattinase (abbott) said...

And another thing, I think people are paying for professional installations. Some of these scarecrows look pretty darn nifty. So far no tombstones on lawns though. I wonder if places that get cold earlier get a head start on this. So Anaheim or Texas would come later. Pumpkin People-that about describes it.

John McFetridge said...

Yeah, professional installations. There's a house in our nieghbourhood that puts up an elaborate haunted house and then tells people it, "isn't suitable for children inside."

It's always fun taking my kids past that place...

pattinase (abbott) said...

I do think we need a holiday with more oomph than Labor Day. Then maybe Halloween would subside in intensity.

Christa M. Miller said...

I saw a Christmas tree in a Hallmark store today. It was purple aluminum. My 5yo son said, "That looks ridiculous." And it so totally did.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Good taste and a vocabulary at five. What a guy!