November 1^st is no longer just the day after Halloween, or the start of a new month, now it seems to have become the official start of the Christmas season. This became even more apparent as I opened Yik Yak the morning after Halloween to see several yaks exclaiming that, “Halloween is over. It’s time for Christmas!” Upon looking at Twitter, a vine of a dancing Christmas tree titled “Me bc November 1^st” appeared on the top of my feed.

Not only was there ample evidence the Christmas season had begun on social media, it seemed to be everywhere. There were Christmas lights being hung around the trees in West Hartford the weekend before Halloween, advertisements for Christmas shopping ads are already on TV, and my Mom even texted me the popular meme of Buddy the Elf with the caption, “Halloween is Over! 7 Weekends Until Christmas!” Similarly, to the rest of the world, Christmas is admittedly my favorite time of the year and seeing the holiday season start earlier is definitely not something to complain about. With that being said, it seems like society as a whole has completely forgotten about another major holiday falling in between Halloween and Christmas. What happened to Thanksgiving?

One of the main reasons why Thanksgiving has become so underrated has to do with how marketable Christmas has become. Christmas is advertised to such a great extent since there is a lot of money to be made by businesses, where as with Thanksgiving, there is next to nothing to be publicized. We live in an extremely materialistic society, so it is not surprising that Christmas has grown.

Halloween, like Christmas, is another consumerist holiday. From costumes to candy to decorations, there is a lot of money to be made. Since Christmas is the next holiday centered around materials, the October 31^st to December 24^th jump makes more sense. With Christmas comes lights, decorations, trees, but most of all, presents. The gift-giving part of the holiday transforms it into almost an industry of it’s own. Businesses are well aware of this and fully take advantage. Black Friday is an entire day dedicated to Christmas shopping and is conveniently placed the day after Thanksgiving to maximize the shopping season. Some of the most popular stores, such as Macy's, open their doors as early as 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. With holiday shopping beginning on Thanksgiving itself, it is no wonder why it has been completely taken over by Christmas. Santa even makes an appearance at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade, thereby showing it’s 50 million viewers that it is officially Christmas time, before the Thanksgiving dinner has even started.

Thanksgiving is a day to be spent with family and a time to be thankful. As nice as the message is, it does not receive that much attention given that there is minimal money to be spent. With the exception of the Thanksgiving dinner, of course, it lacks the materialism that other holidays such as Halloween and Christmas have. It is for that reason that the Christmas season begins so soon and Thanksgiving is just treated as a stepping stone between holidays.

No matter their degree of commercialism, all holidays are an enjoyable time to take a break from work or school and spend time with family and friends. With so many holidays packed so closely together, and so much to look forward to, it truly makes this one of the best times of the year.