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Before the internet came along, probably about the late 1980s in my location at the time, one of the big malls bucked the tradition of waiting to open up on the "day after" Thanksgiving (Black Friday), and opened on Thanksgiving afternoon around 2pm. And they stayed open for 100 hours straight, which was unheard of in those days for brick and mortar stores. The following year many of the big stores did the same. Within a few years almost all of the stores were doing the same.
As far back as I can remember, and I’m in my mid 60s, stores like Walmart were starting to sell Xmas decorations and supplies as early as Labor Day. It wasn't even close to Halloween yet, and the Santas and other Xmas things were decorating the stores!
It just seems to get worse each year with all the one-upmanship between all the retail stores, especially on the internet these days. By the time we get to Christmas Day it seems like the holiday has been around for a whole quarter of a year. I fully expect to see Freddy Kruger dressed as Santa selling Xmas stuff on TV right after Labor Day. It rather dilutes the whole holiday feeling...
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