Christmas comes but once a year, but the shopping season lasts much longer. There was a time when the advertising didn’t start before December. Slowly but surely the kickoff date was moved to November, the day after Thanksgiving. Then it was moved to October, even prior to Halloween. At this rate, in another century, we’ll be doing Christmas shopping all year long.

Then we’ll forget all about the meaning of Christmas. Maybe then the true meaning of Christmas was return to the 12-days of Christmas ending on Epiphany. Then the Orthodox can also reclaim their Christmas season. 

On December 1, 1880, a telephone was first installed in the White House.

On December 1, 1992, Skywriting was introduced.

On December 1, 1778, President Jimmy Carter placed more than 56 million acres of Alaska’s federal lands into the national park system.

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1776, George Washington crossed the Delaware. (In Britain, not only did the businesses take Sundays and Holidays off, but also their military.)