Best Ways to Celebrate Christmas in July
Christmas in July is not a 20th century invention, as many websites will falsely tell you.
Posted on countless websites is the story of a North Carolina girl’s camp that “first” celebrated Christmas in July complete with Santa, trees and presents in the ancient year of 1933.
Good story. And it appears to be true. Except the fact that there is nothing that makes it the first Christmas in July.
Christmas itself has been celebrated in December for better than 1500 years so clearly the idea of “Christmas in July” or “Christmas when you least expect it” had to occur to someone before 1933, right?
Right.
Christmas in July, like Christmas itself, has long been celebrated during alternative seasons.
After all, the idea of advent – or counting down to Christmas – is as old as Christmas itself.
Perhaps the key to understanding the real history of Christmas in July comes from understanding why Christmas needs to be celebrated at other times of the year.
Consider the late 19th and early 20th century’s lament of the common stage actor.
Their Christmas seasons were filled with nightly performances. So great was their workload that they did not get to celebrate Christmas at Christmas.
As this article from 1917 shows, stars of the stage often celebrated Christmas in July – long before Christmas in July was a thing.
But Christmas in July had practical origins in some areas, too. Take for example the land down under in Australia. This, and other locations in the Southern Hemisphere suffer each December with warm summer days, lending to images of Santa on the beach and decorated palm trees. For people living there, Christmas is a summer celebration.
But what are their July’s like? They are like our December – filled with moody, if not showery skies, with cold and snow…and frosty and decorated pines and Christmas in July.
Yes, Christmas in July has many reasons to be celebrated and it has been around a lot longer than most realize.
The real question, no matter where you live or what you do during the customary Christmas season, is do you celebrate it and how do you do so?
~ Best Ways to Celebrate Christmas in July ~
Like Christmas itself, there are few clear rules of how to celebrate Christmas in July. The main point of it all is to just celebrate Christmas with some of the usual trimmings at a clearly different time of the year.
What does that look like? How can one begin Christmas in July traditions? Here are some of the best ways:
1. Do what you normally cannot during December
We’re all squeezed for time, especially at Christmas. How many times have we said, “I wish we had time to do this…” after Christmas has passed? Christmas in July is your opportunity to do the things you missed.
2. Escape the time and place you’re in
A much-rumored Christmas in July pastime is watching Christmas movies while the sun blazes outside. For some, that means darkening the windows, cranking up the air conditioning and firing up the fireplace. Is that weird? Hardly. The escapism of Christmas is valid year round and there is no harm in setting the festive mood even when it isn’t in season. Go ahead, put up that tree.
3. Extend love and charity
The practice of giving is what Christmas is all about. Who says it has to be limited to December? In fact, the element of surprise and giving the unexpected is the singular most popular joy of Christmas for many.
4. Explore the Christmas You Don’t Know
Part of the reason we run out of season before we run out of things we want to do at Christmas is because traditions have done nothing but expand over time. Christmas in July is a good time to try new things you haven’t done at Christmas before.
5. Plan the Christmas You Want to Have
The anticipation of Christmas is made richer by planning for it. Planning for Christmas – whether its how to hang the outside lights or what to cook for Christmas dinner – is about as much fun as actually doing those things.
Christmas in July does not required a declared proclamation from the government or some vast family coordination. It can be as much or as little as you want it to be.
That has always been true. Christmas is celebrated year round, as any advent calendar worth its salt will tell you.
But Christmas in July is an opportunity you do not need to deny yourself of any more. It’s open season to create, to explore, and to celebrate.
