Talking about Christmas already?

In the states, the period of time from November until New Year’s day is generally referred to as, “the holidays,” as the year culminates to its ending celebrations including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. Most Americans are also aware of the day after Thanksgiving as “black Friday,” which marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas holidays including massive sales at most retailers beginning as early as four in the morning the day after Thanksgiving. Who among us Americans can't admit to getting up super early to get some deals on Christmas gifts (for others or sometimes even ourselves) at least once? This has almost become a part of, "the holidays," in that the media even covers the event, tracking hourly spending and translating the data into speculations of the country's economic health. This shopathon of a day has nothing to do with death as the color black commonly connotes, but rather with fiscal terms (red=negative black=positive) whereby Americans send a sudden economical surge in the form of gift purchasing. Incidentally, the proximity of Thanksgiving to Christmas is usually a month, but many notice that Christmas decorations and advertisements begin to find their way into storefronts on an increasingly early basis, almost overshadowing Thanksgiving altogether.

I always considered this as merely a product of the consumer-oriented nature of, “the holidays,” that Christmas equals more dollars spent than Thanksgiving, therefore the attention devoted to a holiday in terms of advertisement is somehow correlated to its potential to stimulate the economy. Or is it that people love Christmas time so much that we'd rather think about it for a while longer than just the days leading up to it?

I noticed a sign outside a wine shop when walking today that made me think of this phenomenon. 

It translates: “Remember, Christmas always comes suddenly.” This didn’t seem to be urging one to purchase, but rather, as an observation of sorts that as the daily temperature slowly drops along with the colorful leaves and the year begins to wind down, people everywhere can’t help but think, “Christmas is just around the corner!” How fast a year can pass!