For Junior Sophie Imler, Christmas always represented a holiday wrapped in family and a strong sense of togetherness. She said from a young age, family traditions deepened her appreciation for the holidays.

“We always make cookies every year…. I really like making them. My mom used to make cookies with her mom and her grandma, so it just kind of continued down to us,” Imler said.

Yet, as she has grown older, Imler said she has sensed a shift in the way Christmas is celebrated.

“I feel like it used to be a lot more about family, but now it feels like we’re modern; it’s very sparse. It’s more aesthetic, more like we are trying to please other people outside the home, not just family. We used to put up, like, family ornaments, and now we just put up ornaments we bought from the store.”

Imler is not alone. With the holiday season in full swing, 41% of Americans will spend less during Christmas this year, with many attributing their reduced spending to continuing inflation. At the same time, around two thirds of people in the northwest believe Christmas has become too commercialized.

Imler said she has experienced this trend firsthand.

“A lot of people put pressure on buying new gifts and getting a bunch of new stuff for Christmas, not only to fit in with the modern trends, but to impress other people. I feel like it’s gotten kind of out of hand.”

Michael O’Toole, sociology and psychology teacher, said the current means of celebrating Christmas have certainly strayed far from its original purpose.

“I’m not sure that if you tie this into a religious ceremony and the origins of it, putting up a whole light display and having a robotic Santa Claus waving to people, driving up your electric bill, was the original intention. 

Junior Sophia Andres said Christmas at her dad’s house means going all out on decorations.

“At my dad’s house, we make it a tradition where we add more to the Christmas trees every year, and now we have so many ornaments. It’s actually crazy. It’s fun because we like to make our house like this winter wonderland, but we add more stuff every year, which is really interesting.”

Andres further explained that she draws from popular culture online when decorating for Christmas, but at the same time realizes the overcommercialization of Christmas. 

Andres said, “(The internet) has had a big influence on how we decorate at my dad’s house because we definitely incorporate social media trends into it. Recently, we made a video with our dogs where we threw an ornament and when the ornament landed, the entire house was decorated. The Christmas tree is a little bit more organized, and based off of some Pinterest inspiration which is sort of a byproduct of commercialization.” 

According to O’Toole, shifts in aesthetics and values result in changing consumer habits especially around the holidays. 

“Even going back to the commercialization of holidays, a lot of these changes have brought about shifting consumer habits. A lot of Christmas decorations are built to be obsolete. They, by design, might get one use out of them and then they’re going to break. You have to buy more, and it drives it (consumer behavior) up. It’s even to the point where a lot of schools even have recycled Christmas drives, and we collect a lot of garbage. Everyone knows it. People that partake in this know that those lights, for the most part, don’t last and they seem to have no problem with this. And again, is that really what (Christmas) was about?” 

While O’Toole noted a digression from traditional holiday values, both Imler that even amid changing cultural landscapes, these values remained the focus of the holiday season. 

Imler said, “ (The holiday season) for the most part is about family.  I really love putting up Christmas decorations because Christmas decorations just make me feel more cozy, and in my family putting up decorations together is a tradition. Although, a lot of it’s about family, it’s shifted somewhat. As I’m growing older, I can see that it is a little bit about showing off to other people about how spirited you are and making your house look prettier. So in that aspect consumerism is a little more emphasized.” 

Despite the pressure to spend on decorations, gifts, and entertainment, both Imler and Andres remain hopeful that as consumerism grows increasingly rampant, family will continue to be the central focus of the holiday season. 

Andres said, “Our Christmas has always been very personalized with (ornaments and activities). Every year we have family come over and spend the week with us. We’ll have a big day on Christmas Eve where we play games, and on Christmas day we’ll have more family over. It’s just a really fun time where we can all enjoy each other’s company and it’s part of the family day. This is kind of what Christmas is all about.”