Don't start shopping for Christmas too early.

Mom and I ran a few errands today. The stores seemed particularly busy for a Monday. I suggested to a clerk that many folks probably took the week off from work to extend the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Oh, no!" she said. "They're taking time off to get a head start on Christmas shopping."

I come from a world in which Christmas shopping is done during the week before December 24, and Christmas carols don't play until December 1.

Old school:

Chicago Loop, December 1962. Mom and I do a little Christmas shopping in downtown Chicago during the week before Christmas.