The lines between holidays are almost nonexistent. Christmas trees are now multipurpose, with ornament options for every holiday from Valentine’s Day to the Fourth of July to Halloween. There isn’t much available for Thanksgiving because there is little turnaround time between Halloween and Christmas.
It is best to hold off on outdoor decorating until the turkey leftovers are packaged up. However, if you don’t have all five of your trees fully decorated by the time guests arrive for Thanksgiving dinner, you are woefully behind.
Before the days of pre-lit trees, I would visit the local Walgreens to get lights for the tree. The store was open 24 hours. At the bewitching hour of midnight on Halloween, the store would be magically transformed into a Christmas Bonanza.
It was the time when three holiday sales converged: Halloween clearance, Thanksgiving, and early Christmas. Witch-shaped Pepper Mint Patties on clearance were next to turkey- and tree-shaped Pepper Mint Patties. Orange Halloween lights and Christmas lights flanked a turkey in a Pilgrim costume.
It was magical! But it was also chaos.
Workers in brightly colored elf hats were uncharacteristically cheery. Some wore the ugly Christmas sweaters that everyone makes fun of on Instagram. You never know if the cashier is wearing it proudly. They think it looks nice, or they wear it cheekily because they are in on the joke. I go with, “Oh, you have on your Christmas sweater. ‘Tis the season.” That way, I’m covered either way.
Then some fully embraced the Christmas spirit, dressing in complete elf costumes with the shoes that curl up at the toe and a little bell on the tip. Forget vampires and witches; nothing’s scarier than a Walgreens employee dressed as an elf, chasing you around the store with jingling shoes and shouting, “Welcome to Walgreens!”
The decorations are always interesting. A reindeer lawn decoration looks cute, but the head tends to fall off. It would be great for Halloween, but a decapitated Rudolph is inappropriate for Christmas.
At the entrance was a giant blowup Rudolph, standing slightly over seven feet tall. Unfortunately, he was positioned so that the “business” end greeted customers entering the store. There were times I think he farted in my face as I walked in.
During the transformation, Santas would appear in witch’s hats, and ghosts would ride in a sleigh. One year, I could have sworn I even saw a turkey wearing a sombrero! By morning, it would all be sorted. Every holiday neatly compartmentalized. But once the morning rush began, customers would have everything in disarray as they tore apart displays in search of a sale item listed in the paper.
It may not have met New York standards for showcase window displays, but it always put me in the holiday mood.
Welcome to Walgreens! (jingle, jingle)
