GQ | Volume 9, Issue 2 | Your Shipment is Delayed

YOUR SHIPMENT IS DELAYED

The mark of commercialization on the Christmas holiday and the current issues in filling orders

Words Ainsley Plesko

Take a peek at any retail storefront in the last two months of the year and you’re bound to see a similar sight: a menagerie of decorative reindeer, snowflakes and wreaths. Christmas has become increasingly commercialized in the United States with gift-giving traditions, corporate advertisements and Santa Clause inspired wish lists. However, Christmas has not always been an integral in American society. In fact, Christmas celebrations were outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. As industrialization grew, companies began to see Christmas as a marketable holiday, reinventing the Christmas traditions we know and love today.

Even before the colonies’ foundation, England experienced a shift in religious ideals as Oliver Cromwell defeated Charles I, injecting his Puritan practices into the Commonwealth. According to History.com, “When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, canceled Christmas.” In 1660, Charles II was restored to the throne by Parliament and his rule brought the relaxation of Cromwell’s strict Puritan beliefs. Christmas began to be celebrated in England once again.

As pilgrims began arriving in the New World in the 17th century, a divergence of religious ideals also arrived. Those with orthodox Puritan beliefs, like the Massachusetts Bay Colony, fined those found celebrating Christmas five shillings. In Plymouth, the Puritan Separatists regarded the holiday as a typical day of work, taking no time off to recognize it. However, in colonies like Jamestown, the settlers regarded Christmas as a sacred holiday, importing their traditions to Virginia. Yet, even in colonies where Christmas was celebrated, the holiday was vastly different from its modern counterpart. The holiday was marked by adult celebrations and activities, far from the children-centered traditions of modernity.

In the 19th century, the holiday saw a revitalization in literature. In 1815, Washington Irving included Christmas essays in The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, writing about the cheer of Old English Christmases. Irving’s ideas took root in America as the holiday began to become a mainstream, familycentered day. “He did not ‘invent’ the holiday, but he did all he could to make minor customs into major customs—to make them enriching signs of family and social togetherness,” biographer Andrew Burstein said.

In 1822, the legend of Santa Clause entered mainstream media with Episcopal minister Clement Clark Moore’s The Night Before Christmas. Depicting Santa Clause as a charitable and jolly gift-giver, Moore modernized the historical Greek monk. Further perfecting the Christmas narrative, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843, recounting the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. Taking Scrooge on a journey through the past, present and future, Dickens immortalized

Christmas as a charitable and festive season. Many current traditions were bolstered by Dickens’ influence, as he emphasized love and family which should anchor the celebration.

By the late 19th century, Christmas was widely celebrated by Americans. In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant declared Christmas a national holiday. Christmas traditions, new or old, began to decorate the month of December. German immigrants brought the traditions of Christmas trees, candy canes and gingerbread houses while Catholic immigrants brought nativity scenes. Nutcrackers crossed Russian borders and colonists began to develop their own eggnog recipes.

Rampant commercialization has transformed tradition.

Rampant commercialization has transformed tradition. Modern Christmas celebrations are now integral to retail success with holidays earning 19% of annual sales. In the last decade, sales have grown significantly each year. In 2021, holiday sales could reach up to $839 billion–a 10% increase from the prior year, according to the National Retail Federation.

However, companies cannot always meet the demands of the season’s consumers. In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, month-long shipping delays may characterize the Christmas of 2021.

“Clogged ports, a stressed trucking industry, labor shortages, higher demand and higher shipping costs are all impacting shipments of toys, electronics, apparel and more,” reports CBS.

From the east to west coast, shipping delays are on the rise as cargo ships remain in ports with crates of goods unopened. Los Angeles, which handles 40% of imports, is facing a record backlog.

“The American consumer’s buying strength is so strong that we can’t absorb all this cargo into the domestic supply chain,” Gene Seroka, the director of this west coast port, said. Experts warn to expect the unexpected with shipping delays and to shop early.

From shipping delays to record-breaking sales, Christmastime consumerism continues to make a steady increase in societal importance. Yet, in reminding ourselves of the true reason for the season, the words of Charles Dickens ring true. In recognizing the good intention at the heart of tradition, Dickens embraces the Christmas spirit, writing, “I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time. The only time when men and women seem by one content to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers.”

Design Sophia Baldwin Graphics Sophia Baldwin