Christmas and holiday season
hideThe Christmas season, the (Christmas) holidays or the holiday season is a notable 2 to 4 month period that surrounds the Christmas holiday as well as other varying holidays. It is sometimes synonymous with the winter season, and is usually said to take place between approximately October and January. It has been found to have a proportionate effect on health, compared to the rest of the year. Its reference and naming by schools and governments has been the subject of controversy. It incorporates a period of shopping which comprises a peak season for the retail sector (the "Christmas shopping season"), and a period of sales at the end of the season (the "January sales").
The exact definition, name, and celebratory method of the period varies from culture to culture: According to Yanovski et al., in the United States the season "is generally considered to begin with Thanksgiving and end after New Year's Day". According to Axelrad, the season in the United States encompasses at least Christmas and New Year's Day, and also includes Saint Nicholas Day. The U.S. Fire Administration defines the winter holiday season as the period from December 1 to January 7. According to Chen et al., in China the Christmas/winter holiday season "is generally considered to begin with the winter solstice and end after the Lantern Festival". Some stores and shopping malls advertise their Christmas merchandise beginning after Halloween or even in late October, alongside Halloween items. In the UK Christmas food appears on supermarket shelves as early as September.
The precise definition of feasts and festival days that are encompassed by the Christmas/winter holiday season has become controversial over recent decades. Traditionally, the only holidays included in the "season" were Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day (in some countries), New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Three Kings Day. In recent times, this definition has begun to expand to include Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Due to the phenomenon of Christmas creep and the informal inclusion of American Thanksgiving, the "winter" holiday season has begun to extend into late autumn. (See also list of winter festivals.)
For more information about Christmas and holiday season, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with holiday season
Shop before you sign a data contract for a netbook
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Netbooks with built-in 3G wireless Internet access are all the rage this holiday season. But before you sign on the dotted line at your local AT&T or Verizon Wireless store and commit yourself to a two-year contract, consider ...
Gift Guide: Touch and Windows 7 in fresh PC lineup
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(AP) -- This holiday season is a great time to buy a PC. There's a nice new version of Windows out, and computer manufacturers are adding interesting new technologies. Here's a guide to what's fresh in PCs, ...
Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays (Update)
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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(AP) -- Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.
Doctors Warn Against Holiday Heart Attack Spike
Dec 03, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Some studies indicate that death rates from heart attacks and stroke as well as non-heart-related causes spike during the holiday season.
Holiday Web shopping looks brighter than last year
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Online retailers hope the convenience of the Web, plus discounts and deals, spur still-nervous shoppers to spend more online this holiday season - even as traditional retailers brace for mediocre sales.
Suggestions for tech-happy holidays
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 25, 2009 |
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The holiday season is as much a time for tech as for toys. Electronic gadgets are at the top of many wish lists and account for an ever-growing share of holiday shopping budgets. Fortunately for shoppers, tech gifts don't ...
Wi-Fi for travelers becomes Web marketing lure
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Google, Yahoo, eBay and Microsoft, competitors on the Web, all have the same idea for marketing themselves this holiday season: temporarily providing free Wi-Fi access in airports, airplanes and public places.
Just in the time for holiday shoppers: Personal finance professor offers advice on breaking credit addiction
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An October survey of 3,800 consumers by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling found that more than two thirds (68 percent) planned to pay in cash for their holiday purchases this year, ...
Forrester projects rise in online holiday sales
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Forrester Research Inc. is projecting an 8 percent increase to $44.7 billion in online holiday sales compared with a year ago as bargain hunters turn to the Web for deals.
Gartner predicts PC shipment growth in 4Q
Jun 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Gartner Inc. analysts are predicting this holiday season will be sweeter than last year's for the PC industry.
Prices for flat-screen TVs will not go higher
Dec 31, 2008 |
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Don't fret if there wasn't an HDTV under your tree. (Let's pretend it would have fit.) If you were like me this holiday season, it took considerable effort to get beyond the TV department at the nation's retailers. I was ...
