What is Christmas in July and how did it start?
In Australia, Christmas in July is an excuse to have a ‘traditional’ Christmas with all that hot roasted food (like roast turkey, Christmas pudding, egg nog and so on) at a more appropriate season.
Since Christmas occurs in summer here, where it can easily be above 35 degrees, few people are inclined to cook all that palaver, let alone eat it.
Plus with hot weather it’s more fun to spend holidays outdoors, so lolling about bursting with heavy food puts a bit of a dampener on things.
Christmas in July takes advantage of cooler winter weather – in those parts of the country that have it – to have the open fire, mulled wine and egg nog, and heavy, hot Christmas food nobody much feels like in summer.
It’s also just a convenient excuse for a nice dinner and who doesn’t like that?
I imagine it started with restaurants and hotels, offering something a bit catchy.
Christmas in July is an event that is celebrated unofficially as a holiday in many countries like Australia and New Zealand in the month of July.
In the southern hemisphere, winter falls in July. Therefore, in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, to have a Christmas with winter, Christmas events are launched in July.
However, Christmas in December, the usual month, is a much more common practice, despite being summer.
Amid the scorching summer months, people miss the gift and Christmas spirit of Christmas.
The Christmas celebrations in July also included other Christmas traditions like Santa Claus, ice cream and other cold foods and gifts.
What is Christmas in July 2020 and how did it start?
A good friend of mine started it years ago. Why? Because his mother claimed she wouldn’t last until Christmas and wanted one last Christmas with the grandkids.
They live in New Orleans, so did a big crawfish cookout, had water gun fights, all the summer fun stuff. And yes, they decorated her house with Christmas lights inside and out, the tree, the whole 9 yards. Of course, there were presents, wrapped in Christmas paper.
Mother lasted another 10 years! 🙂 And they continued to do it (and again in Dec) every year.
She died last year and they did do Christmas in July one more time, but I don’t believe they did it this year
As I saw others post, I can see where people South of the Equator would do Christmas in July, so they got the cold weather/ snow and all the traditional cooked dishes.
Names of all of the 7 dwarfs
While it appears that some people actually have mock Christmas celebrations in July (especially in Australia), in my experience, it is a marketing ploy.
Shopping centers and markets have Christmas in July sales to move merchandise. This merchandise is mostly giftware and holiday decorations.
I suspect, but do not know, that it was the brainchild of someone who wanted to unload a lot of holiday merchandise before they faced the end of their fiscal year and in that way save money on their taxes.
Wikipedia says, “ The Hallmark Channel runs blocks of their original Christmas television films in July to coincide with the release of the Keepsake Ornaments in stores.”
In several countries in the southern hemisphere, for example, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, people flatter an additional Christmas in July isolated from the general on December 25.
To tell the truth, over the last few years, the example has been increasing in several European countries and also in the USA.
Summer in December
Christmas is typically related to frost, winter season, cold weather, comfortable designs, and warm drinks for special occasions.
In any case, the provinces of the southern hemisphere do not have the opportunity to observe December 25 in that climate.
No holidays in July-September
One of the reasons why Christmas in July spread to different nations (apart from those in the southern hemisphere) is that there is no main occasion between July and September.
People praise him for having a social adventure with his friends and family that he could not visit here and there due to the scandalous ice conditions in December.
Plus, it also lets them beat the scorching heat of July by remembering winter and the freezing chill of occasions in December.
Is Christmas a pagan celebration?
CHRISTMAS has always been Christmas. At one point in history, pagans had celebrations on December 25 but the first Christian Roman Emperor outlawed pagan celebrations of all types forcing them underground and decided to use the same day for an entirely different Christian celebration to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The holiday is known as Christmas and while some pagans continued their own celebrations in secret and their holiday lost popularity, the very non-pagan celebration became increasingly popular over the next 2000.
Then it gradually also became a popular secular holiday as well to the point millions of people across the world celebrate either the secular holiday or the birth of Christ or both on December 25 while very very few people actually celebrate the ancient pagan gods and rituals.
What is ClicksFly? How do I use this to earn money online?
Again, a day isn’t what makes a holiday, its what people are actually celebrating and on December 25 the greater majority of all celebrants are celebrating Christ/God and/or family/sales/shopping/money while only a very few, usually again athiest bigots seeking silly tired old same ol’ same ol’ to toss at Christians even remember – or care – there used to be a pagan celebration on the same day.
Even the small few pagans who may wish to revive the ancient celebrations keep to themselves and don’t harass others. Just the bi gots cant serm to help being tiresomely repetituve.
FYI The pagan holiday was called Saturnalia, celebrating something called Mithra. Christmas has always been Christmas, for 2000 years anyhow.
What are the pastel Colors?
It pretty much is a pagan ritual that was co-opted by Christians to make their religion more acceptable and gain more followers.
In pre-Christian times it was a solstice celebration. Who wouldn’t celebrate the return of the sun during the cold of winter! That’s partly why trees were dressed up in light (candles) to encourage or mimic the sun’s return.
Festivals include food so it was a time to raid the root cellar and bring out those items that might not make it all the way to spring. Maybe kill a game bird to share, etc.
There is one part of Christmas that got added later due to a rich Turkish bishop who gave treats to the children of poor families, thus starting the “stocking stuffer “ tradition. He is portrayed wearing a red, fur-trimmed coat by the way.
You can read more by checking Wikipedia and a more general search for Christmas traditions. But the short of it is that it had nothing to do about the birth of Christ.