When Did St.Patrick’s Day Become “Big”?

[RedAngie]

Not for getting drunk, but for home decor.

I was at Christmas Tree Shops earlier today and they had a big section of tacky decorations. Bigger than their Valentines selection.

Many years ago stores had a modest amount of March 17 merchandise, if any at all. The past few years I’ve noticed an large increase. Do people really go all out for this “holiday”?

A week or two ago someone mentioned an excess of leftover holiday merchandise at Christmas Tree Shops. Holy cow!!! They weren’t kidding. This one had cartons and cartons of unsold stuff. Gift wrap and boxes out the wazoo, plus much much more. Plus plenty of fall leftovers too.

 

[V.B.]

I think in general, all holidays are getting bigger...When I was a kid, most houses only carved one pumpkin for halloween and the kids dressed up and Christmas started in Dec...lol...Now? Adults dress up for halloween too, there often are more than once Christmas tree in a house. I've heard of St. Patrick's Day Elves that leave candies out for kids now. So, I think in general, it's just becoming more commercialized. I don't mind it though, where I live, the winter months are so very dark and dreary, so if people want to decorate from Thanksgiving until Easter, I say go for it! But yeah...It can be kind of crazy going into a store and seeing rows and rows of things, lol.

 

[barkley]

i just assumed the area we are in has an abundance b/c it seems that the attitude among the college crowd (we have multiple in close proximity) is that 'everyone is irish on st. patrick's day'.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I don't know anyone who has "gone all out" for St. Patrick's day. When I was in Ireland for a few months, locals told me that they usually stay home on March 17th due to traffic being awful and all of the pubs being super crowded.

Stores will push any and all holidays in order to make money. Right now every store near me has a ton of Valentines day and Superbowl stuff (which isn't even a holiday but I digress).

 

[NotUrsula]

That tended to depend on where in the US you live. (Ireland is different; St. Patrick's Day until recently was a religious observation, a day that you went to Mass, not got roaring drunk. In recent years some areas have been copying the US-style celebrations because there is money in it.)

In US areas where there is a large Irish-American population, St. Patrick's Day has been big for quite a while, and especially since the 1960 election of JFK, which caused a huge expansion of celebrations in Irish-American communities. I was in parades from the time I learned to walk, and I'm *old*.

 

[mylilnikita]

Any way for retailers etc to make money they will do. If they could really market Groundhog Day some people would probably go all out lol.

 

[georgina]

I don't know anyone who has "gone all out" for St. Patrick's day. When I was in Ireland for a few months, locals told me that they usually stay home on March 17th due to traffic being awful and all of the pubs being super crowded.

Stores will push any and all holidays in order to make money. Right now every store near me has a ton of Valentines day and Superbowl stuff (which isn't even a holiday but I digress).

My mom, an Irish immigrant, always went to church on St Patrick's Day, not at our parish church but at a local one with all the other Irish, then to the parade. We got to skip school for the parade, my high school actually gave everyone the day off due to the large amount of Irish on the west side of Cleveland.

I think the whole commercialization of all these minor holidays is ridiculous. I have a front door wreath for Valentine's Day, one for St Patrick's, and one for Easter. That's it for decor.

 

[PollyannaMom]

5 minutes after I read this thread, I saw this on Pinterest:

 

[TippyThomas]

Can't wait for the argument over corned beef this year. Always a hit!

 

[disneydreamer781]

Oh great! I want a Reuben so bad right now!

 

[RedAngie]

And apparently holiday gnomes are a big thing now too. They had various St.Patrick’s gnomes, as well as Valentines. I didn’t look at their Easter stuff, but I noticed spring/summer garden gnomes.

Plenty of places had Christmas and Halloween gnomes too.

I hate gnomes.

 

[disneychrista]

I've heard of St. Patrick's Day Elves that leave candies out for kids now.

Should those be leprechauns?

 

[BrianL]

It does seem like all holidays are getting like this. It's been a few years now, but I've seen Halloween cards in the card sections - like, when was that ever a holiday on which cards would be given? Decor and "doing it up" is more popular and like a competitive sport for some poeple. Honestly, I think it's the Internet/social media that drives a lot of it. Decorate extravagantly, take pictures, and post - watch those likes roll in!

 

[BayouQueen]

Maybe it’s also a carry-over from pandemic. People got all into decorating their houses to cheer people up who were also stuck at home. At least they did a lot in our neighborhood. The retailers can take that and run with it to make $$$.
I don’t mind so much. Better that than all the gloomy stuff going on. But all that junk sure isn’t good for the planet.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

It does seem like all holidays are getting like this. It's been a few years now, but I've seen Halloween cards in the card sections - like, when was that ever a holiday on which cards would be given? Decor and "doing it up" is more popular and like a competitive sport for some poeple. Honestly, I think it's the Internet/social media that drives a lot of it. Decorate extravagantly, take pictures, and post - watch those likes roll in!

Imagine what our financial system might look like had the founding fathers realized how hard people would work for likes.

 

[tvguy]

I haven't seen any St. Patrick Day stuff in the stores. No place for it, Walmart has 2 aisles of Valentines day candy/stuffed animals including a $40 box of Whitman's chocolates. If your sweetie gives you Whitmans chocolates, find a new sweetie!

 

[Kitty 34]

Our Meijer sells lots of green stuff around that time but I think part of it is also March Madness and usually many around here are rooting for Michigan State (green and white).

 

[mjkacmom]

I think about half of my town has Irish ancestry, we have a Saint Patrick’s day parade (usually a couple of weeks before since there is a limited amount of pipers and there are tons of parades). The bars are crazy on parade day and Saint Patrick’s day, plus many have parties on both days. We have a local Irish American club, plus the knights of Columbus (I don’t know if this is Irish everywhere, here knights are Irish and the elks are Italian).

 

[Mysterian]

Imagine what our financial system might look like had the founding fathers realized how hard people would work for likes.

Ben Franklin was our nation's first influencer. That or given his kite stunt, maybe he was the first Johnny Knoxville.

 

[Mysterian]

I'm waiting to see giant inflatable lawn leprechauns and inflatable bottles of whiskey. Or a lawn dummy made to look like a passed out fella.