Roll out the Holly!

I’ve just made my first run at tossing away a batch of holiday catalogs. The recycle bin will soon overflow with catalogs advertising expensive, sometimes weird goods.
The Hammacher-Schlemmer catalog wants me to buy a giant inflatable Frosty the Snowman. Frosty shows clips from the cartoon on a screen in his belly. Then, there are catalogs for every type of clothing imaginable, jewelry, sporting goods, and imported foods, all at exorbitant prices. One for Spanish food wants to sell me three ounces of ham for $49. I don’t think so.

But wait just a minute—Black Friday! Around here, there used to be riots at the doors. Doorbusters, products that caused the overeager to break down the doors, just generate milling crowds these days. I think that ordering things online eliminated the heart-stopping need to pillage the neighborhood Dollar store.
I go to a local fabric store every year for the muslin I use to wrap the rum-soaked fruitcakes in, so I get all their flyers for extra fuzzy, cozy flannels and embroidery scissors. This year, I noticed that you can avoid the milling crowd and just buy the Doorbusters online. I ask you, what is the fun in that? We used to tsk-tsk over the reports of hospitalizations from Black Friday madness at Walmart, JC Penny, Sears, Macy’s, and all the big stores. The lines at the liquor store of people stocking up for the holidays are more lively these days.

Another aspect of the run-up to Christmas was always the big store displays. Animated scenes, light shows, big train sets, and lovely miniature scenes were part of the big draw. Those have shrunk, with some stores totally canceling their spending on them. In both New York City and Boston, people flocked to the downtowns to see what wonders had been concocted. Not anymore. These days, the anemic displays at the malls are recycled from whatever decorating firm the mall owner contracted with to put on a display of tired sugar plum fairies in worn velveteen.

At least at my house, we’ll adhere to proper standards. There’ll be the train around the tree for cats to chase, Many blinking multicolored lights, and slices of my infamous ” don’t eat and drive” rum-soaked fruitcake. Cats will cavort after consuming outrageous amounts of catnip, and the dog will snooze in front of the woodstove after playing with new toys.
People seem to want less for presents these days, but that allows us to concentrate on fewer, more meaningful presents.

So, just because I grumble doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. But darn it. A good Black Friday riot was a nice way to start the ball rolling.