Christmas in July: what it is and how to celebrate

Where it came from

The phrase shows up in an 1892 French opera, Werther, where children rehearsing a Christmas carol in July are told they are rushing the season. In the 1930s an American girls’ summer camp in Brevard, North Carolina held a full Christmas in July celebration, described in a 1935 recreation journal as an event of mystery and wonder. Hollywood picked up the phrase in 1940 with Preston Sturges’ comedy Christmas in July, about a man who thinks he has won a $25,000 contest and starts buying presents.

In the Southern Hemisphere the idea is older and more practical. Australians have talked about moving the feast to their cool months since the 1820s, and mid-winter Christmas dinners in June and July remain a real tradition there, with the fire lit and the roast on, because December is beach weather.

When is Christmas in July?

July 25 is the usual date, the half-way point to Christmas. Many celebrations stretch across the whole second half of the month. MerryWrap runs its own free Christmas in July event from July 13 to July 24: twelve doors, one a day, with summer colors and their own gift tags to find, ending the day before the 25th.

Ways to celebrate

A summer movie night with a Christmas film and the air conditioning up. A gift swap with a $10 cap. Cookies, but the no-bake kind. A day at the pool with carols on the speaker. For a countdown, MerryWrap’s July doors give you a puzzle a day for twelve days, free, with no purchase needed and no account to create.

If you want Christmas more than twice a year, that is what Santa’s Workshop is for: a new board every day of the year, included with any MerryWrap calendar you own, so the puzzle never stops between the Decembers.