When did pre-Vatican II Catholics put up Christmas decorations?

[dueSicilie]

How is enjoying a orchestral concert allowing you to be manipulated...

I think you missed the point.

£200

Greg thought it was important to mention that these tickets are supposedly worth 200 pounds.

Would he have felt as strongly about missing the concert if those tickets were free?

If the concert tickets cost 200 pounds, the show will probably be vastly better than if the show was free. 

Not necessarily, I'll grant you, but most probably. Few people give away good artistry. 

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

If the concert tickets cost 200 pounds, the show will probably be vastly better than if the show was free. 

Not necessarily, I'll grant you, but most probably. Few people give away good artistry. 

I'll give you that.  And if Greg comes back and says he would feel just as adamant about not missing a free concert, we can move on.

But I don't think we can move on from this, which seemed to be the guiding principle in his response:

You cannot teach children not to conform to the world

[Greg]

Going to Cirque du Soilel late December.  Tickets cost 280 quid for 2 seats.

London is pricey now

[Severinus]

Some practical considerations need to be taken into account though as well.  We cut our tree this weekend: the weather was perfect and if we wait (like we did last year) there might not be much left, or you end up cutting it after an ice storm and you have towels all over the floor as a tree thaws in your living room.  Same reason we put up our outdoor lights: the weather was perfect.  Here in WI you take what you can get.  Last year for example Christmas was 0 degrees.  Sure, go hang lights in that....We also have an outdoor Nativity scene, I'm sure having a reminder of the "reason for the season" up early won't hurt anyway.  As Christmas gets close we'll put up some indoor decorations, but the tree waits till Christmas eve, that way the workload is spread out and we have reminders of the upcoming Nativity.  And we always wait till the Presentation to remove the decorations, including the outdoor lights.

What if you cut down and set up the tree during a nice day in Advent, and then decorated it as a family on Christmas Eve? Or similarly with the outdoor decorations - put your wreathes and lights up early, but wait until Christmas Eve to turn them on or add bows, or something? Liken them to the earthly preparations God made for the coming of his Son.

It's a little different from what the neighbors are doing, most likely, but it's not downright fundie, you're being practical about the weather, and you're doing a few significant things to mark the shift from Advent to Christmas.

There's some allowable ambiguity during Advent, I think. It's a season that mixes sorrow with knowledge of a certain[ joy, soon coming. Ultimately the Catholic family should distinguish Advent from Christmas and the octave of Christmas, but occasional previews of that joy could be mixed in or conceded.

"Be consoled, my people: your salvation cometh soon. Why art thou consumed with sadness? They sorrow hath estranged thee."

[drummerboy]

What I've been thinking is similar to what you're suggesting.  We might decorate the tree slowly, say, add the ribbon one week, lights another, and finish it off with the star and ornaments Christmas Eve.  A bare tree in the living room looks strange lol!  We also put the indoor nativity scene up, but Jesus is always put in Christmas morning. Same with other decorations.  One strives to build suspense without acting like it's Christmas like the secular world.  Now, the outdoor lights I do early simply to remind folks what Christmas is about.  I consider it evangelism   

[Bataar]

When I was younger, my family always started around the beginning of advent. We didn't celebrate Christmas, but we got everything up just to "get it done". I don't do any decorating anymore as it's quite a lot of work and no one will see them but me.

[The Curt Jester]

Decorations go up shortly before Christmas.  They stay up through the Presentation.

[Michael Wilson]

We put up our Christmas decorations around the 15th of Dec, And keep them up until the Epiphany, because sometime after the Wise men's visit, the Holy Family goes up to Jerusalem for the Presentation/Purification/Candlemas. I had many and very happy Christmases growing up, thanks to such good parents.
I can't exactly remember when we did our Christmas decorations when I was growing up, but I would guess more closer to Middle to late December than early. What strikes me is how important Halloween has become for many Americans; many people decorate for the day at the beginning of Oct.???

[Greg]

Halloween used to be completely ignored in the UK, other than maybe they showed a Dracula movie on BBC2 that night.

Nobody went trick or treating and there was nothing to decorate your house with on sale.

All that shit came in after the year 2000 as far as I remember.  Kinda of fashionable now.

[diaduit]

Yep same here, Halloween was a stay at home night with the family and played games like bob the apple and ate porter cake which had a gold ring in it and we all wanted the ring and we told ghost stories.  I'm the only house that doesn't decorate for Halloween and it was my mother in law who lived part time with us that started the jack o lanterns at my front door.  Kids did trick or treat along with neighbourhood kids as again I don't want the kids remembering me killing all the fun but I never let them dress as witches or devils.