Christmas Consumerism in Department Stores - Essay Example

However, in looking around at the many ways in which the world does transform during this time of year, one can see that a fantasy world is created within the many delightful ways in which the décor in retail, residential, and businesses is changed to reflect the imagery of everything from Father Christmas to snow fairies. The use of color becomes more extravagant, and the explosion of glittering ornamentation becomes vibrant with color combinations being bold and celebratory. Lights are twinkling everywhere one looks and the world becomes transformed into a winter fantasy in which no dream of interior or exterior decorating needs to be edited or toned down to be appropriate.

One of the most wonderful aspects of this season is the many window displays that are seen in shops and department stores, some advertising their wares, while others are defined by an artistic sensibility that defies extravagance. Some types of window display advertising are intended to highlight consumer goods, while others are intended to draw people in and communicate a different sort of aesthetic through invention and creativity. The window displays that are available for view during the Christmas season are some of the most wonderful examples of interior landscaping that can be seen throughout the year.

To understand how Christmas affects people, it is imperative to look at the event from an anthropological perspective. Most academic fields have opinions on the rituals that constitute the Christmas season. The field of psychology allows researchers to make observations on behavior to explain crucial elements of the relationships that people share. The seasonal rituals create a language that can be opened up and interpreted for how we communicate emotions during that time of year. The spending habits during this time of year, however, are of most interest to anthropologists as they study how people paradoxically complain about the commercialism of Christmas while participating in the extravagances of the season.

According to Highfield, in the United States Christmas purchases equal approximately one-sixth of all retail business, while in the U.K. gift purchases equal approximately eight percent of the economy devoted to producing items for Christmas gift giving. It has been determined that approximately four percent of the income in the U.K. is spent on Christmas (30). People spend their money during this time of year to reap the rewards of the hopes they have for their relationships with others. Whether those hopes are realized or not, those hopes are fueled and sustained through the advertising that suggests that certain responses will occur when spending habits are turned towards their products. This type of advertising promotes the agenda of retail environments so that the perpetuation of Christmas spending allows for economic benefit to the economy. The stimulus that is provided by Christmas spending is a good thing, an advantage that should not be held in a paradox of materialism, but realized as a good thing for the benefits that spending has within the overall economic landscape.

Christmas originated with religious connotations that were specific to Christianity. However, the holiday was not of Christian origin. Christmas time was originally a pagan holiday time in which winter celebration was a part of the cultural seasonal rituals (Nissanbaum, 25). The people were used to the celebration of the winter time and it was feared that without replacing it with a Christian holiday, the people would soon stop worshipping Christ the way that it was necessary to do so. Therefore, it was claimed, erroneously, that the time was the birth of Christ and that on December 25 of each year his birth should be celebrated.

Therefore, the concept of the holiday was a sham from the beginning, dependent upon a lie that was perpetuated so that the people could continue their cultural rituals. In creating Christmas for the current culture, it has a variety of meanings depending on the needs of the individual. Many celebrate it as a time of birth and renewal, supporting the concept of the celebration of birth (Heinz, 114). Others celebrate it as a time to show one’s family and friends the emotions that are felt towards them. Both groups spend a lot of money every year to create a joyful holiday season.

There is a real fear that the meanings of the holidays are being reduced merely to their market values. As the consumer culture becomes more concerned with the economic value of a holiday and the traditions that are associated with the holiday erode and are lessened in the wake of an ambivalent public, the cultural connectivity that is provided by the concept of community holidays stops having the meaning that is central to how a culture communicates during that time.