Only in America.
It amazes me sometimes how innovative (or shall we say...expansive) we Americans can be when it comes to holidays.
Not long ago St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in Ireland as a religiously based holiday. It was America that re-defined it and made it into a version of a heavy drinking Mardi Gras (if that's possible). And then sent it back over to Ireland with its new identity!
We also made Hanukkah much bigger than it is (or was) in Israel (and within the Jewish community), since it started out as a rather minor festival.
And...Christmas as we know it is as American as apple pie. It wasn't until the mid-1800's that department store owners realized that it could be transformed into a commercial holiday.
So, there we have it! Three American holidays that are celebrated around there world...all dressed up in international commercial ventures.
But, what the heck. HAVE FUN and ENJOY 'EM!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very true! Valentine's Day is another heavily commercialized American holiday, or as my mom loves to call them, Hallmark Holidays. They are fun and we should enjoy them, however, it is amazing to watch people get so caught up in these "international commercial ventures."
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI agree! How could I forget valentine's day?
Also...my dad used to call them Hallmark Holidays too!
Only in the U.S. Christmas atmosphere starts just right after Halloween, which by the way should be added to the list of commercial holidays as well :^)
ReplyDeleteTrue! It is crazy to think that people spend so much money lets say for Christmas that they need more then a year just to pay it off and then another Christmes comes and you already know the rest of the story...:)People are becoming so materialistic that they forget that sometimes spending quality time is worth more then any kind of expensive gift.
ReplyDelete