Modern Holiday Rituals

1. Black Friday/Cyber Monday

The Cabbage Patch Kid riots of 1983 (Uploaded to YouTube by Eyewitness News/ABC7NY)

It took a while for the appellation of “Black Friday” to catch on in terms of shopping. But the notion of the day after Thanksgiving’s shopping crowds pushing borderline businesses from the “red” into the “black” was codified in print in The Philadelphia Inquirer on November 28, 1981. The name eventually took off and became integral to all of the commerce marketing surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. And while the shopping part might be okay in and of itself, it’s the frenzy that many people fear. Presaged by moments like the Cabbage Patch Kids riots of the 1980s, some Black Friday “celebrations” have been marred by broken store doors and hapless shoppers being trampled. Fortunately, it’s usually more calm than that, but some shoppers choose to bide their time over the weekend and hit Black Friday’s online cousin, Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday, codifying the Monday following Thanksgiving as a major internet shopping day, was willed into being by Ellen Davis and Scott Silverman of the National Retail Federation when the term was dropped on November 28, 2005. That online shopping day accounted for more than $10 billion in sales in 2020.

2. Whamageddon/Mariahpocalypse

“All I Want for Christmas is You” (Uploaded to YouTube by Mariah Carey)

*The writer notes that he did not post “Last Christmas” as he is still alive in Whamageddon as of this writing.

Let’s get this straight: No one intends to disparage George Michael or Mariah Carey here. Mariah has sold 220 million records, won five Grammys, and has the most Billboard Hot 100 #1 songs by a female solo artist. And George Michael should always get a pass for “Freedom ’90” alone. BUT . . . the seasonal pervasiveness of their songs has led to a pair of social games: Whamageddon and Mariahpocalypse.

Inspired by earlier games like The Little Drummer Boy Challenge, the game begins on December 1. The first time that you hear either the original versions of Wham/George Michael’s “Last Christmas” or Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in the wild (car radio, store sound system, etc.), you’re out. Again, this is only the originals; covers or remixes featuring Justin Bieber (or the truly excellent “classroom instruments” version with The Roots) do not count. If you play, you’re supposed to post your disqualification online (with the appropriate #Whamageddon or #Mariahpocalypse hashtag). If you make it to Christmas Day without hearing the song, you survived. What do you win? Well, nothing, unless you have an organized prize among your friend group (which is also a regular thing in some circles).

Some people have a lot of fun with it, while others get stridently angry that some see the popular tunes as something that you’re supposed to avoid or survive. However, it’s deliberate silliness, and therefore harms no one. It has become something of a modern ritual, with radio DJs occasionally issuing warnings that one or the other song is about to drop.

3. Hallmark Movies

Countdown to Christmas 2025 trailer (Uploaded to YouTube by Hallmark Channel)

Is this more of a ritual or a cult? Either way, the network’s “Countdown to Christmas” branding officially began in 2009. Now, Hallmark Christmas movies start popping up around Halloween (seriously) and run almost continuously through January 1. At this point, Hallmark Channel has produced over 330 original Christmas movies, leaving approximately 330 heartbroken city-dwelling businessmen in their wake. The channel made 24 brand-new films for this year alone.

4. Elf on the Shelf

The mother and daughter writing team of Carol Aebersold and Chanda Bell and artist Coë Steinwart introduced the book-and-doll combo The Elf on the Shelf in 2005. You know how it works: From December 1 to Christmas Eve, the Elf moves around the house every night, keeping an eye on the kids to see if they land on the Naughty or Nice list. A two-fold experiment in operant conditioning (one side seeing if the kids behave under the Elf’s watchful eye, the other seeing whether parents remember to move the thing every night) became insanely popular, even though there’s been more than a little online backlash. Pictures of the Elf found in humorous or even compromising positions are big online. As recently as this year, Verizon parodied the phenomenon with commercials starring Kevin Hart and Melissa McCarthy.

5. Outdoor Decorations

Outdoor decorations are almost as old as Christmas itself, but over-the-top lights and inflatables really didn’t kick up until the 1980s. Excessive lighting was a central plot point in 1989’s Christmas Vacation. And while Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold was the butt of the joke there, some viewers obviously went to “challenge accepted.” Bigger and brighter Christmas displays eventually found their reality show outlet with The Great Christmas Light Fight, an annual production of ABC (the current season debuted on December 4). Again, there’s nothing wrong at all with outdoor decorations. However, if your display is so big that it tricks hibernating animals to wake up, you may need some help.

6. Ugly Sweaters

Ugly Christmas sweaters (or Christmas jumpers in the U.K.) really started to take off in the 1980s. Their spread was attributed to British television hosts wearing them, notably radio and TV host Timmy Mallett and news presenter/game show host/one-time member of Parliament (the governing body, not George Clinton’s band) Gyles Brandreth. In the 2010s, possibly triggered by appearances in films like Bridget Jones’s Diary, sales of “ugly sweaters” surged online, and ugly sweater holiday parties started to become a staple.