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When did dinosaurs and aliens become Christmas decorations?
I ask because I’m kind of stunned (my natural condition) at some of the strange, weird and downright odd things you see in people’s yards this time of year.
A lime-green Santa-saurus in our neighborhood caught my eye, and somewhere, I’ve seen a Santa alien wishing “humans” a Merry Christmas.
Just today, I drove by a place that featured an inflatable Santa riding a motorboat in the front yard. (Maybe I missed a line in “ ‘Twas a Night Before Christmas” where Santa has to replace the oil in the lower unit on his boat engine to enable his delivery of gifts?)
It’s all part of the evolution of a holiday which used to revolve around gathering with relatives, munching on too many cookies and eating strange foods like oyster stew and lutfisk. Now, it’s almost a front-yard decorating contest for some people, and an endless string of meaningless NBA games on TV.
Remember Christmas cards?
I used to send out a pile, but that pile’s shrunk in recent years, as have the number of Christmas cards arriving in my mail box.
A poll last year by OnePoll found that six out of 10 adults said they’d received fewer Christmas cards than in the year previous. Three in 10 respondents said they weren’t sending any cards. So I guess I’m not alone. As for front-yard decorations, my stunning display features a “Merry Christmas” neon sign above a 4-foot-high Nativity set that has a dramatic star hovering above the baby Jesus, Mary and a wise man.
When I first got the Nativity set, I’m sure I was the envy of the neighborhood. But as the years have passed, some of the electric lights that illuminated the set have burned out. I’ve been passed by a herd of guitar-playing Santas and dinosaurs.
I’ve tried my best to replace the lights in my aging Nativity set, stuffing a string of white lights between the plastic cardboard back and the kind-of woven front of the figures. After all, isn’t there some prohibition against throwing away a Nativity set? Or some special ceremony required to dispose of it?
So my Nativity set limps forward, still stunning during the day but more blob-like at night due to my makeshift lighting alterations.
I went to the local hardware super store to seek out a new Nativity set, but got lost in a forest of Santas, penguins and leaping reindeer.
There were row upon row of Christmas lights and outdoor displays, aimed at tapping into the estimated $6 billion a year Americans spend on yuletide decor. But few signs of a Nativity set.
Those inflatable Santas, that loom over a front yard like a red-spangled godzilla, were first sold in 2001, according to The Week magazine.
Since then, they have morphed into many alternatives, such as Santa riding a pink flamingo and a shotgun-toting Santa sitting in a deer stand (really), $135 at your local big box retailer. A Santa Sasquatch can also be purchased for the front yard.
The bad news is that Christmas decorations, due to new tariffs on China (which supplies nearly 90% of all decorations), are more expensive this year.
Well, they won’t be getting any of my cash because I still have faith in the Christmas spirit, you know like charity, reaching out to relatives and giving to others.
And I have a rockin’ – and aging – Nativity set to tend to.
Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. Prior to his retirement, he was senior contributor with the Nebraska Examiner. He was previously with the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha Sun. A native of Ralston, Nebraska, he loves traveling and writing about the state.
