Happy Sunday—and welcome to November!
The Halloween candy is still on the counter, but somewhere in your neighborhood, someone is already putting up a Christmas tree.
November 1st seems to divide people into two camps: “Bring on Christmas!” and “Can we please let the turkey have its moment?”
Of course, Costco has been selling us Christmas decorations since Labor Day. By their calendar, we’re already behind.
So when do people actually decorate?
A 2025 YouGov survey asked Americans who planned to have a Christmas tree when they put it up:
- 18% said before Thanksgiving.
- 28% said between Thanksgiving and December 1st.
- 30% said during the first week of December.
So the early decorators have plenty of company, but the biggest groups still give Thanksgiving a head start. The same survey found that 81% of tree households planned to have an artificial tree—which certainly makes a November 1st debut easier!
How did we get started bringing trees into the house?
Decorating with evergreen branches during winter goes back to ancient times, when greenery symbolized life during the darkest months. The decorated Christmas tree tradition we recognize today traces back to Germany in the 1500s. Early decorations included apples, nuts, and sweets.
People also used actual burning candles on their trees. Suddenly, finding one burned-out bulb doesn’t sound quite so inconvenient.
In 1882, Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, created the first string of electric Christmas tree lights. It took decades for the idea to become widely adopted.
And when should everything come down?
Apparently, that’s another debate. In the YouGov survey, 47% of people with a tree planned to take it down during the first week of January, while 1% said they never take it down. Those people aren’t decorating early today. They’re simply ahead of schedule.
Our take? If the decorations make you happy, enjoy them. Whether you’re hanging stockings today or refusing to acknowledge Santa until the Thanksgiving dishes are done, there’s room for both traditions.
Here in Arizona, we can all agree on one thing: putting up Christmas lights in shorts is a pretty good arrangement.
Hit reply and tell us: Are you Team November 1st or Team After Thanksgiving?
Have a great afternoon!
Joy, Jen, Kim, Kathy, Coloradas, Maxfield, Dr Shriner and Dr Ring
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