The event's focuses for the public to get in the mood of Christmas during the summer season, four to six months prior reaching to December, with Christmas-themed activities and entertainment.
This includes small Christmas events, Christmas music, Christmas specials, and as well as shopping.
Werther, an 1892 French opera with libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann, had an English translation published in 1894 by Elizabeth Beall Ginty.
In the story, a group of children rehearses a Christmas song in July, to which a character responds: "When you sing Christmas in July, you rush the season." It is a translation of the French: "vous chantez Noël en juillet... c'est s'y prendre à l'avance."
This opera is based on Goethe's The Sorrow of Young Werther. Christmas features in the book, but July does not.
Christmas in July has become such a cultural staple each year that you may not have even thought about who first dreamed up such a cheery, potentially cheesy, midsummer celebration.
Well, as it turns out, it started right in the South. (No, it wasn't marketers!)
We can't say we're surprised, though. Christmas in July started eighty-seven years ago on July 24 and 25 in 1933 at a girls' camp called Keystone Camp in Brevard, North Carolina.
The first Christmas in July included carolers, a Christmas Tree, Santa Claus, presents, and fake snow made of cotton.
As the tradition evolved, campers would use laundry bags as makeshift stockings, which they placed outside their cabins to be filled with candy overnight.
Eventually elves, reindeer, and Mrs. Claus joined the act, along with a camp-wide gift exchange, counselors included.
Lemel, who is the fourth generation in her family to hold the title of director, said the gifts were crafty and creative. "One time my dad got a bejeweled toilet plunger decorated with feathers and glitter," she said in the interview.
The tradition carries on today, and blistering-hot Southern summers have yet to stop the camp's tradition—now they simply go for a dip in the lake post-presents.
To bring a little Christmas in July spirit home, check out National Day Calendar® for ideas for a Christmas in July party and which movies to watch and when.
In 1935, the National Recreation Association's journal Recreation described what a Christmas in July was like at a girl's camp, writing that "all mystery and wonder surround this annual event."
The term, if not the exact concept, was given national attention with the release of the 1940 American black and white comedy/romance film 'Christmas in July'.
The feature had been written and directed by American playwright, screenwriter, and film director Preston Sturges ('The Lady Eve', 'Sullivan's Travels', 'The Palm Beach Story').
In the film, office worker Jimmy MacDonald (Dick Powell) is fooled into believing he has won $25,000 in an advertising slogan contest.
He later buys presents for family, friends, and neighbors, and proposes marriage to his girlfriend Betty Casey (Ellen Drew).
In 1942, the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. celebrated Christmas in July with carols and the sermon "Christmas Presents in July".
They repeated it in 1943, with a Christmas tree covered with donations. The pastor explained that the special service was patterned after a program held each summer at his former church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
This was when the congregation would present Christmas gifts early to give ample time for their distribution to missions worldwide.
Afterwards, the program became an annual event, and in 1945, the service began to be broadcast over local radio. As early as 1950, American advertisers began using Christmas in July themes in print for summertime sales.
In the United States, it is more often used as a marketing tool than an actual holiday. Television stations may choose to re-run Christmas specials, and many stores have Christmas in July sales.
Some individuals choose to celebrate Christmas in July themselves, typically as an intentionally transparent excuse to have a party. This is in part because most bargainers tend to sell Christmas goods around July to make room for next year's inventory.
In the Northern Hemisphere, a Christmas in July celebration is deliberately ironic; the July climate is typically hot and either sunny or rainy/thunderstorms, as opposed to the cold and snowy conditions traditionally associated with Christmas celebrations in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
Some people throw parties during July that mimic Christmas celebrations, bringing the atmosphere of Christmas but with warmer temperatures. Parties may include Santa Claus, ice cream and other cold foods, and gifts.
Nightclubs often host parties open to the public. Christmas in July is usually recognized as July 25 but also sometimes celebrated on July 12.
How do you observe or celebrate Christmas in July?
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