Wednesday, December 28, 2011

When you should take your Christmas decorations down?

A couple of years back, I asked on this forum, the question, “When do you take your Christmas decorations down?” I asked this question because there were a lot of differing opinions floating around. And after I asked the question, I received even more opinions too. Some I liked and will include here. Such as:
Well, traditionally they are supposed to stay up until January 6th, being that is the 12th day of Christmas... (Christmas day is the 1st day). I usually leave them up until the 8th, my birthday then take them down... if I can stand it. I took them down this year on Monday the 4th, because I couldn't stand having them out any longer... I have way too many Christmas decorations! :) I feel as long as you wait til Boxing Day to take them down that is okay. They really don't need to stay up when Christmas is over.
Take care!! ******
Or: Some people say 6 January is the day because it's Epiphany or Twelfth Night, when the wise men visited Jesus two years after He was born. My mother said 1 January because she had had enough of them hanging around, so that's when we did it when I was growing up!” *****
Or: “We have just recently had this discussion with our friends as they were dismayed as I had already packed all of our Christmas things & tree away on New Years eve as I usually do.
Their comment was it stays up until the 6th Jan, 12th night as an old English tradition.
Well I thought we followed a Basic English tradition Christmas in our growing up years and I don't remember that part. The tree usually came down when it was dead and passed being nice.
Our own tradition here as we have an everlasting tree, is it goes up on the first of December and down on the last day of the year.
Depending on the day and who is home the tree has gone up the day before, decorated, except for the Peak [Dutch tradition] which only goes up on the 1st. Our own tradition is to decorate it as a family, and who ever helps to pull it down gets a chocy! *****
Or: Walter I myself am so challenged by the fact that it’s over so quick so I still have my tree up. Will take it down this weekend. Many blessings: ***
Or; I was thinking and came up with a theory about the two weeks before and two weeks after, plus your 6th January recommendation. The 6th of January is the 12th day after Christmas (counting Boxing Day as day number 1). So maybe the correct thing is to put it up 12 days before Christmas and take it down 12 days after - something to do with the twelve days of Christmas. And then the two week thing that I was thinking of, is just an approximation/generalisation - two weeks, 14 days, is close to 12 days. *****
Or: Morning Walter, I have always been told the 7th Jan is the last day to take down Christmas Decorations. ****-****
Or: “We had a good Christmas with all the family here for lunch and some of them stayed overnight.
The comment must have got lost. We always take our decorations down on 6th January because it's Twelfth Night and that's when my family have always taken them down. It's nice to have a fixed date then there are no arguments about letting them stay up longer. All the best for the New Year, *&*
So it seems that traditionally it was the 6th of January, or when the tree starts to get too tatty, if it is a real one. However one last opinion before we finally put this matter to rest
The following is from Wikipedia. Where it says:
: January 6th is Three Kings Day. It is the beginning of Epiphany -- The celebration of the Jesus public appearance in the world. So Christmas is over. After Epiphany would be Lent and so on in the Church calendar.
So Jan 6th is the end of the celebration of Christmas and so the decorations go down. Christmas starts several (4) weeks before the 25 with the lighting of the candles in the Advent wreath.
So there we have it my friends: While some people take their tree and decorations down early for aesthetics or convenience, the Official Date is the 6th of January and the day of the Epiphany! (The twelfth Day of Christmas! But that’s for another day and another blog. TOWGP.

No comments: