December 1st, 2023 | Nick Edward

Who Really Stole Christmas?

It wasn't the Grinch who stole the spirit and turned Christmas into a spectacle of consumerism.

In the shadow of the Yuletide spirit, we gather to recount the tale of how Christmas, once a sacred observance of family, faith, and feasting was seduced and stolen by the glimmering promises of consumerism. The story is not for the faint of heart, nor the weak of wallet, for it speaks of a transformation as profound as the Coca-Cola-sponsored makeover of Santa Claus himself.

Let's descend into the tinsel-covered trenches, where the battle for Christmas's soul was waged, and the spoils of war were nothing less than the hearts and pocketbooks of a nation. Our journey begins in the merry old land of America, where the visionaries of commerce first recognized the festive season's potential as a veritable goldmine of retail riches.

Among the pioneers of this Yuletide revolution were the department store magnates, those titans of the turn-of-the-century retail landscape. Names like Macy's, Gimbels, and Wanamaker's echo through the corridors of history, not only for their grandiose holiday window displays and lavish in-store celebrations, but for their strategic marketing campaigns that turned the once-modest Christmas into a season of excess.

It was in the early 20th century, as the Industrial Revolution churned out goods at an unprecedented rate, that the holiday commercialization began its meteoric rise. The rise of the middle class, with their newfound purchasing power, was a siren song to the advertising geniuses of the day. They crafted a narrative in which Christmas was no longer just a holy day, but a month-long extravaganza of buying, wrapping, and exchanging the latest gadgets and gizmos.

One of the earliest and most famous Christmas commercializers was a man named Thomas Nast. Nast was a German-American illustrator and political cartoonist who lived in the 19th century. He is credited with creating the first Santa Claus image that is similar to the version we know today. In his 1843 illustrations of Santa, Nast depicted him as a jolly, rotund man with a white beard and a red suit.

Nast's illustrations of Santa helped to popularize the character and the Christmas holiday, and soon Santa was being depicted in advertising and marketing campaigns for department stores and other businesses. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the commercialization of Christmas reached its peak, with companies using Santa as a marketing tool to sell products during the holiday season. In the 1930s, the character of Santa Claus became more commercialized and was used in advertising and marketing campaigns by department stores and other businesses. Companies such as Hallmark, Coca-Cola and others used Santa in their advertisements to sell products during the holiday season.

The media, too, played its part in the grand orchestration of Christmas as a commercial juggernaut. Network executives realized the holiday's potential as a ratings bonanza, filling the airwaves with cheery ads and heartwarming programming designed to tug at the heartstrings and loosen the purse strings.

It was a Faustian bargain, a pact with the profit-driven devils of Madison Avenue, where the spirit of giving was co-opted by the spirit of commercialism. The once-sacred was now being sanctified by the almighty dollar, and the American people were all too eager to play their part in this grand pageant of consumption.

But we can't forget the invisible puppeteers pulling the strings of Yuletide commerce: the advertising agencies, those sorcerers of the sales pitch. They conjured images of perfect Christmases, filled with perfect families and perfect presents, all under a perfectly wrapped bow. It was a mirage, a chimera, a shill designed to make the masses believe that without the latest toy, the fanciest food, or the most extravagant decor, Christmas would be a mere shadow of itself.

N.W. Ayer & Son, established in 1869, was one of the first advertising agencies in the United States. They worked with major retailers to promote Christmas merchandise through newspaper advertisements, catalogs, and promotional campaigns. They played a crucial role in popularizing the idea of gift-giving during the holiday season.

J. Walter Thompson is another one of the oldest advertising agencies in America. During the early 1900s, they worked with clients to create Christmas-themed advertisements that emphasized the joy of gift-giving and the importance of purchasing their products. They also utilized illustrations and catchy slogans to grab consumers' attention.

In the midst of this capitalist carnival, the true meaning of Christmas became rare. The spirit of generosity and togetherness, the essence of the holiday, was drowned out by the clamour of cash registers and the cacophony of jingle bells. It was a silent night, alright—silent in the sense that the sound of joy and laughter was drowned out by the cha-ching of the cash register.

It is believed that Macy's was one of the first retailers to use the phrase "Merry Christmas" in its advertising, but it is not clear when they first used it. The phrase "Merry Christmas" was becoming more popular during the early 20th century and it was used by many people and organizations to wish others a happy holiday season. However, it is believed that Macy's was one of the first large retailers to use it in their advertising, which helped to popularize the phrase.

It is worth noting that the use of the phrase "Merry Christmas" in retail advertising became more common during the 1920s and 1930s, and it became a widely recognized and expected part of the holiday season.

Another department store that played a significant role in commercializing Christmas was Sears. It was one of the largest retailers in the United States and was known for its popular holiday catalogs, which featured a wide variety of products, including Christmas trees, gifts, and decorations. These department stores, along with others, used Santa Claus and other holiday themes in their advertising and marketing campaigns to promote their products and increase sales during the holiday season. They also created holiday window displays that attracted customers and helped to further popularize the holiday.

So, as we hang up our stockings by the chimney, let us not forget the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future. Let us remember the true spirit of the season, not the one sold to us by the corporate overlords, but the one etched into the hearts of the world's children, the spirit of hope, love, and goodwill towards men.

In the end, the commercialization of Christmas is not just a story of how we were sold a holiday; it's a story of how we bought into it and allowed its true meaning to be stolen. It's a tale as old as time itself—the story of humanity's eternal struggle between the pure and the profane, the sacred and the secular, the heart and the wallet. As we ride into the sunset of another holiday season, let us find our joy not in the Macy's Day Parade, but in the simple acts of kindness and connection that are the true gifts of this favourite time of the year.