What Is Christmas In July

Have you heard of Christmas in July? Growing up, I recall hearing this phrase every summer. That’s probably because I love Christmas. Plus Rudolph and Frosty The Snowman have a stop motion Christmas in July movie too. Which makes me wonder, is this just a seasonal reminder that Christmas is less than 6 months away. It turns out there’s more to this Holiday than I thought

It Has Aliases

The most popular name for this annual tradition is Christmas in July, which occurs every July 25. Those names are Midwinter Christmas, Christmas in Winter, Christmas in Summer, and Early Christmas. Now the winter one may seem confusing, because the American version of this holiday is getting people in the Christmas spirit; whereas, Christmas in Winter refers to the Southern Hemisphere’s winter season. The typical Christmastide occurs during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter. That’s why Christmas in July may serve a different purpose outside of the U.S.

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Who Created It First

Technically the concept was created by the English translation of a French opera in 1894. The first celebration occurred in the U.S. decades later. Elizabeth Beall Ginty published an English Translation of Werther, which features a scene were children are rehearsing Christmas Songs. One child claims that singing Christmas songs in July rushes the Christmas season.

Turns out July was a creative choice, because it is not mentioned in the book, The Summers of Young Werther. This matters because this book was the source material for the French opera. That being said, Ginty can’t get full credit for this.

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In 1935, a girls camp in North Carolina celebrated their first Christmas in July. It was a fun and unexpected way to raise the girls spirits. They even had fake snow. Honestly, I’m surprised. When it comes to decades like the 1930s, I think of The Great Depression. I’m thinking who had the funds to send girls to camp, as well as, execute this flashy event out of season.

Final Thoughts

I do find it interesting that Christmas in July has different purposes based on where you live on a global scale. It doesn’t mean that Christmas in December is ignored by Southern Hemisphere. It just means that this area of the world want to enjoy the Winter version of Christmas during their colder seasons. Shopping is associated with Christmas in July. Some places do a special bizarre to sell gifts during the two day celebration.

July is a good time of year for family’s on a tight budget to knock out Christmas shopping early. Black Friday isn’t what it used to be. Less people are trying to keep up with The Joneses. So, they don’t need to wait for the annual toy book or Christmas catalog to map out their holiday shopping.

Although this is a Trisha Goes In Fridays type of post, I plan to bring it back January 2025. In the meantime, I’ll sprinkle a few posts like these on Tuesdays. Thanks for spending sometime with me. See you Monday for Motivational Mondays with Trisha.