Where Did Christmas In July Come From?

Now that the Fourth of July is behind us, we're entering into the Holiday Wasteland. No major holidays are on the American calendar between now and September. Yet, I'm reminded of ironic Christmas in July shopping events. When I was young, my mother used to watch all of the various Christmas in July sales and promotions on the QVC home shopping network.

That's right... I'm parlaying an article out of a memory concerning QVC. Just bear with me, folks.

What's stayed with me for all of these years is how blatantly profit-driven those televised sales were. Snowglobes and reindeer... for sale in July? Oh yes... and even more. You could get everything holiday related that you'd normally see for sale in December, but during the middle of Summer. In fact, QVC is still holding their annual Christmas in July sale more than twenty plus years since I can recall first seeing it.

So where did the concept of a Christmas in July originate? The idea is more simple than you might think.

In the Southern Hemisphere of our planet, the seasons are reversed from those in the Northern Hemisphere. Instead of experiencing Winter in December, January and February, countries like Argentina and South Africa endure their coldest months in June, July and August. Likewise, December, January and February in the Southern Hemisphere are Summer. To experience and celebrate the more recognizable Northern Hemisphere Christmas, many countries south of the Equator hold Christmas in July events. You could see Santa Claus sipping a margarita on the beach, or a snowman made out of sand (sandman?). Gifts may or may not be exchanged. The Southern Hemisphere still celebrates Christmas in December, so they practically enjoy the holiday season twice in one year!

Of course, leave it to capitalists to take a wholly innocent idea and run with it. Adopting the Christmas in July theme, retailers began using it as a promotional tool to move merchandise during the slowest sales time of year. This practice goes as far back as the 1950's in the United States.

So there you have it -- Christmas in July actually does have a reason to exist. If you're in Australia, then Christmas in July is about festively sharing a sense of merriment and wonder with your fellow man. If you're in the United States, then Christmas in July is an excuse to purchase sports bras, running shoes and video games at forty percent off!

Just in case you were wondering, Australia does see snow in June. Here's an article with photos detailing a terrible snow storm they received just a month ago.

The Value of the Butcher.

In recent weeks, I have had the displeasure of opening two newly-purchased, but spoiled, packages of pork meat. It's an extremely odorous and sickening discovery, to say the least. The first package I opened came from a local Food Lion grocery. Upon tearing the package open, I immediately knew the pork was bad. It had a pungent, sour smell that can only be described as rotten. The package was returned the following morning for a refund. Thankfully, the employee I dealt with didn't give me a hard time.

This evening, I had the same event occur yet again. Earlier in the afternoon, I'd purchased a pack of boneless pork ribs from my local Lowe's Foods. My dinner tonight was to be a pork stir fry. Needless to say, that quickly became a chicken stir fry. The pork ribs looked and smelled fine upon removing them from the package. I discovered their true putrid nature once I started to slice them apart. The inner centers were dark brown and stunk terribly. It's a good thing I had some chicken in the freezer to complete the stir fry with.

I realize that this is an odd topic of discussion, but it highlights a steady trend in grocery stores. That trend? The lack of an on-sight butcher.

The Butcher's Shop by Annibale Carracci, circa 1580

Both of the grocery stores that I received spoiled meat from do not have an on-site butcher. They might have a closed-off butcher work area, but there's no actual butcher there doing work. Instead, stock boys are merely receiving and repackaging prepared meat portions that have been delivered to their location. This is troublesome, in my opinion. The value of a knowledgeable butcher goes without saying. They know how to prepare meat and what manner to store it. Most importantly, a butcher knows how to spot a problem with meat before it ever reaches the consumer.

This drift away from on-site butchers will only continue as consumers become farther and farther removed from their sources of food. Unfortunately, there's little the consumer can do to change this trend. Corporations will continually fine-tune and tweak their chains of production to maximize their profits. Removing the butcher from the local grocery is just another cog in the capitalist machine.