As I squeeze through the open door, the cold morning air transforms into dry, artificial heating. Red carpet and lights decorate the wide path before me, split in half by white dividers. People in jackets and sweaters crowd behind me as I hurry to catch up to my mother and sister, the shopping cart poised to catch whatever treasures await us.
Once past the ticket booth, the real show opens up: vendors selling crafts galore in rows of ten foot squares or larger. We make our way to the back, passing jewelry, iron windmills, and the hanging planters that show up every year. Through the food hall, around the pretzel corner, past the Amish furniture and fairy wings, the end becomes our start. Bamboo pillows and wooly mittens line one side, crabcake sellers on the other.
One by one we conquer the aisles. People pack in, responding to the squeeze like rush hour traffic. Some stop at a display, slowing down the line, frustrating those behind, keeping them from their own quest for gifts. Noise and Christmas music ring everywhere, pounding the eardrums. There’s nothing but chaos.
Like the Pennsylvania Craft Show, holiday spirit swamps the senses with commercials, television specials, music, and daily newspaper deals, promising your family the best Christmas if you only bought this product, saw this show, or participated in this special once-a-year event. According to Statista, about twenty percent of the retail industry’s sales come from holiday shopping. In 2013, those numbers accounted for 3.19 trillion dollars in holiday sales - more than all other holidays combined! But without the glimmer of lights and presents under the tree, would Christmas still be practiced by ninety-two percent of America? Or would the holiday cheer be lost under dreary winter cold and gray skies?
While commercialization seems like a big deal now - with television, Internet, and radio bombardment - it’s been going on since the 19th century. According to historyextra.com, the early 1800s would usher in the modern Christmas shopping rush. In Britain, “department stores were putting enormous efforts into outshining their rivals’ displays.” Poinsettias took off in America’s 1870s, marketed as a special holiday flower, according to bloomburgview.com.  Even everyone’s favorite red-nosed reindeer began as a marketing alternative to coloring books. New traditions are still being added, like Elf on the Shelf, a hide-and-seek elf game started in 2005. Over time, these additions build on top of one another, continuing to sculpt Christmas tradition.
Of course, few things beat a good Christmas movie. Sitting with my family with hot chocolate on a cold night, I’d take out our VHS copy of Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer and slide it through the slot. Cuddling under a blanket, we’d watch cassette after cassette: Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, and The Year Without a Santa Claus would return every year to warm our hearts.
Television continues to get people into the holiday mood with reruns of these shows and other classics, like It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Christmas specials for TV shows end on an extra sweet note to bring cheer to their spirited audiences.

With all the buzz over decorating, buying, and watching television, people claim the “true meaning of Christmas” is lost in the fray. Billy Graham responded to a reader’s question about the topic, noting “Christmas has become so busy and commercial today that it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed.” In the chaos of the holiday season, people have forgotten the silent, holy night where, Graham said, “instead of focusing on Jesus’ birth, we find ourselves totally absorbed in things that a year from now may be useless and forgotten.” How often does a toy get thrown aside after two days of play? Or a video game stays the center of attention for a couple weeks before being spent and shelved? My own parents would go down to the basement and get rid of neglected toys. I’d wake up and go through the day, never noticing.
To bring back the story of Christmas, churches put on their own performances to promote their message. For example, every year (www.claproductions.com) Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, PA, exhibits a Christmas musical. However, instead of resorting solely to Christ’s birth as the storyline, CLA actors perform Dickens-esque plays, creating a classic, familiar atmosphere for non-churchgoers while still spreading their message. The church transforms the main atrium, covering the bare stage with painted towns and snow. Characters trust God through financial troubles, impossible promises, and family struggles, which all resolve by Christmas morning. The curtain closes as the pastor steps out and calls for prayer, asking the audience to raise their hands to accept God. After he finishes, the music comes back, crescendoing for the finale.

Many Christmas celebrators aren’t Christian. In a Pew Research study, eighty-one percent of non-Christians in America celebrate Christmas, explaining that they “see the holiday as more of a ‘cultural’ event than a religious occasion,” and therefore it’s unlikely they will attend a Christmas service or Christ-themed show. In fact, a little less than half of the entire celebrating public plan to visit a service at all. At the same time, the most complained-about Christmas events include the commercialization, expense, and crowded stores. So why do people get so excited?
Joyful music plays on radio stations, one after the other. They sing about chilly winter snow and warm fires, roasting chestnuts and jingling bells. Lights brighten the streets all night long, both white and multi-colored, illuminating what would be another freezing, dreary night. Streets and malls fill with shoppers, all in long coats for the weather. They smile at one another, visit the Santa Claus display with their children, and perhaps give an extra dollar or two to the man next to the red pail.
Later they go home or to family, to enjoy a warm night of laughter and games. A rainbow of presents sits under the tree, promising wonderful things in the minds of children. The tree itself is a wonder, covered in streaks of lights and colored orbs, as well as homemade ornaments, holding memories of Christmases past. Someone removes the ham from the oven, its smell filling the house and the noses of bright-eyed youngsters, who play with their toys and the snow outside. Christmas movies air on TV, filling people with hope and happiness, enough to make it through another year.
There’s another meaning behind Christmas. While only eleven percent in the Pew study recalled their favorite part of the holiday as “religious reflection,” sixty-nine percent say their favorite part is the time spent with friends and family. Joyful people and the Christmas spirit - “love, joy, peace” - follow up at a respectable seven and four percent.
Wendy Patrick, attorney and co author of Reading People, explained to the Orlando Sentinel that Christmas time is about gathering with loved ones and having fun together. While stores do get excited to make some extra dough, the advertising helps set the mood. “Holiday decorations and publicity also generate an electrifying buzz that energizes the community and brings people together in the true spirit of friendship and giving,” Patrick said. It’s the season of togetherness, where people remember how important it is to give and spend time with others. If we eliminated retailers, decorations, performances, music, and gifts, focusing only on the virgin birth, would people still see Christmas as important? Patrick asked, “What is the alternative? Not celebrating at all? Just because some people enjoy the festivities, fun, and family time offered by the holiday more than the religious aspect, does that mean we should do away with it altogether?”
Christmas can seem loud. Companies display ads 24/7, movies play on TV every night, people display their crafts at themed shows. But that cacophony of cheer perpetuates the Christmas spirit. We seek the deals along with everyone else for the same purpose: to experience the togetherness the nation shares once a year.