Christmas Countdown Starting in August

Child with Christmas Elf in Summer One of our elves enjoying a quick Summer visit to his human family

Christmas really does come earlier every year

I am glad to see my human friends finally come to their senses  as experts have confirmed that Christmas really is arriving earlier each year! Us Elves start to think about Christmas in January so I have always been dismayed to see humans leave it so late.

According to a study of internet searches for terms such as “Santa Claus”, “elf” (good to read we elves are thought about!) and “presents” published by the Royal Statistical Society (RSS),  people now think about Christmas as early as mid August – almost three months earlier than in 2007!

Data analyst Nathan Cunningham looked at the volume of Christmas-related Google searches in each of the past six years to work out the probability of each week being defined as “Christmas” or “not Christmas”.

He found that from an extremely late start of November 11 in 2007, we have turned our minds to Christmas as early as August 19 in 2012.

Apparently, Christmas started on October 12 in 2008 and August 30 in 2009 before a slight delay to October 3 in 2010 and September 11 in 2011.

In the last two years the festive season started on August 19 and August 25.

Mr Cunningham’s results are published in a paper entitled Does Christmas really come earlier every year?. The study earned him a runner-up prize in this year’s Young Statisticians Writing Competition organised by the RSS (Royal Statistical Society) and Significance magazine.

Mr Cunningham describes his findings as a little startling: “From a seemingly late beginning of November 11 in 2007 we had begun turning our minds to thoughts of the festive season as early as August 25 in 2013.

“While this of course seems absurdly early it should be borne in mind that the beginning of the Christmas period here reflects a marked change in our mindsets to thoughts of Christmas, and not the beginning of the full-blown holiday season.

“Nevertheless, it would appear that the prevailing notion is correct: Christmas is indeed coming earlier every year.”

RSS executive director Hetan Shah said: “This is a great example of using publicly-available statistics to take a fresh look at an age-old debate.

“Whilst many of us haven’t even started our Christmas shopping yet, this study suggests people are turning their minds to the festive period earlier and earlier.”

Needless to say – all of us elves are delighted to see humans giving Christmas the attention it deserves. A few more years and they will start feeling the festive cheer in January too! 😉

About Elfin (38 Articles)
Hi, I'm Elfin - Santa's chief Elf. Santa's wants me to tell you all about my Elf friends and the Christmas Elf Tradition. If you have any questions, just ask! I would love to hear from you and find out what your elves have been up to - so please leave your comments. Happy Elfing :)

46 Comments on Christmas Countdown Starting in August

  1. what’s up little elves

  2. She is my elf and i miss her dearly.

  3. hello this is me laura i have a question about my elf he has been very tired latly

    please help me now

  4. Do you know when Holly is going to be finished with her duties? Tell her when she finishes to come back to my house. Tell Holly that Nicole loves her.

  5. something is wrong with my elf his name is peppermint snow HELP PLEASE

  6. well latly i have to say i sprinkled cinnaman by him and he was gone is he in the north can u see if he is please and what kind of cookies does SANTA like cause i want to make him cookies this christmas i waitng for him tell me if my elf is in the north pole i miss him i think the cinnaman work but i cant find him

    AND HIS NAME IS PEPPERMINT SNOW FIND HIM FIND HIM PLEASE

  7. GOOD NEWS I SPRINKLED SOME CINNAMAN BY HIM AND HE MOVED SOMEWERE WHILE I WAS GONE I SO HAPPY

  8. What are Santa’s favorite kind’s of cookies?

    • Santa just loves anything sweet (it can be seen on his waist line), but is favourite cookies at the moment are chocolate chips cookies!

  9. What is your job at the North Pole? What is your favorite color? Were are you now?(location)

  10. Do you know if Holly is coming back on Dec 1 ?

  11. How long does it take for a letter to get to the North Pole?

  12. I can’t beleve that Holly might be at my house in the morning!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

  13. How do I get an elf crazy for free? I really, really, really, really, REALLY want one really really bad. I want more but the top 3 things on my christmas list is the nerd rebel agent bow purple, a red zike (150) a ps vita (white) mine craft for the ps vita, a racing game for it and my family. Thank you for reading because this a very important message!!!! Love Yasmyn Smith

  14. What kind of cookies are Santa’s favorite? (same Nicole by the way )

  15. Did Holly ever get my letter I sent her a few weeks ago?

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