Thanksgiving— the Middle Child of the Holidays?

The holiday hustle and bustle has begun! It began in September- can you believe it? Of course, we didn’t have our holiday merchandise out in September but some stores did. We did, however, have customers asking about our holiday lines in September. Here we are just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving and the “Holiday Shopping Season” is well underway. In all honesty, I am extremely envious of the early shoppers. By mid-November (or earlier) they are done with their shopping and can avoid going to malls and stores, dealing with holiday-shopping traffic and, often, over-stressed, over-spent, over-tired last minute shoppers (like me). While some folks are thrilled with the prospect of what the Holiday Shopping Season offers, not everyone shares their enthusiasm. A friend of mine on Facebook commented that he was boycotting any stores playing holiday music before Thanksgiving. I tend to agree. I feel as though Thanksgiving—a time when we need to reflect on all that we are blessed with and feel thankful for—has been back-doored by many retailers. Even Halloween gets four full aisles at bigger box stores but do you EVER see even one or two full aisles for Thanksgiving? No. Retailers jump from Halloween to Christmas. Let’s face it; Thanksgiving is the “middle child” of the holidays. For the record, I look at the middle child like the sweet and creamy center of an oreo cookie or the peanut butter and jelly in a PB&J sandwich—it just wouldn’t be the same without it.

My dilemma is this: I am torn between wanting to feel full-blown enthusiasm for holiday shopping and resentment over how little attention is paid to Thanksgiving. How do I deal with this? Well, because Thanksgiving has a special place in my heart, it deserves a special place in my shop—not in the middle, not hidden or mixed in with other holidays. It has its own space—front and center. I load-up on merchandise that sends the “Be Thankful” or “You are blessed” messages. I need the reminder, as do many others. This doesn’t mean I boycott early Christmas displays. We are full of Christmas sans the holiday music until after Thanksgiving…

On November 19th, The Second Knob will have its first Annual Holiday Open House. We will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with refreshments, door prizes and specials. We will have normal open hours the day after Thanksgiving but will not have any “Black Friday” specials other than free coffee for tired Black Friday shoppers. On Saturday, November 26th, we will partake in “Small Business Saturday.” Small Business Saturday is a day to support small business owners. Folks are encouraged to shop small, local stores to help fuel the economy. On the 26th, we will have SBS specials!

As always, we’ve been very selective about what we offer. We’ve added some beautiful hand-carved pieces recently. My favorite of these is the Duck Club—water fowl created from old golf clubs. These are the perfect gift for the golf (or duck) enthusiast on your holiday shopping list. The same artist, James Graves, of Ontario NY, carved Santa Ornaments for us, which are truly unique. Recently, we obtained a collection of Longaberger baskets. These beautiful, hand-crafted, maple wood baskets are American made and easily recognizable with their country or floral liners. Each basket is stamped and has a certificate of authenticity.
We have new merchandise arriving daily and, of course, our line of antiques continues to grow. Stop in and visit us at The Second Knob, 128 W Main St. in Dryden. We are open Tues-Sat from 10-6, with extended hours until 9pm on Thursdays and now thru Dec. 18th, we are open on Sundays from 11-4.

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