MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As Thanksgiving ends, it begins to look a lot like Christmas everywhere.
It’s the day many families start to deck the halls for the holidays, but with lessons learned from the pandemic and supply shortages, many are getting a head-start on getting things going for the yuletide.
Fisher Hamilton and John Christmon have been a couple for a couple of years, now, but only recently moved in together, and they went shopping for their first Christmas tree.
Traditionally, both their families decorated for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving. As the leftover turkey and the fixings were put away in the fridge, the tree trimmings were pulled out of storage.
“Pillows, ornaments, little knick-knacks everywhere. Try to figure out where they go. Then you're like, 'Why do we have so much stuff?’” laughed Hamilton.
"My dad very much owns the Christmas miracle in itself. It's like, we don't even know how he does it,” said Christmon. "About the weekend after Thanksgiving it just goes up. We don't know how he does it."
In 2020, many households rolled out the holly before Halloween.
The pandemic was a great excuse to get a jump on Christmas, but the biblical Christmastide or Yuletide begins December 21st. But, not even a child can resist the lure of the lush green tree boughs, candy canes, snowmen, and Santas.
Which leads to the question, when is it time to take those decorations down?
Hamilton and Christmon both said their families' holiday decor stayed up until around the 2nd or 3rd week of January.
"We left it up a while because we really put a lot of work into it,” said Hamilton.
That's not too far from when the Christian calendar says Yuletide is a wrap.
Ever heard of Epiphany or 12th Night?
The short of it is, 12 days after Christ means the end of the party as it relates to the birth of Christ.
Mike Earnest has sold Christmas trees in Midtown for years, but by December 17th of 2020 - short of about 300 trees - he had closed up shop, but the pandemic wasn't the blame.
“It was due to the recession several years ago where they did not plant enough trees for 3 or 4 years. And now the last couple of years it's been catching up with us,” said Earnest.
That's brought on the Christmas rush.
"People are shopping earlier this year because they're thinking the same think may happen this year,” said Earnest.
Hamilton and Christmon are right on time, and it looked like they found the perfect tree for their first year together.