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[[File:Christmas decorations in a private home, Europe.jpg|thumb|Christmas decorations in a private home, Europe.]]
A '''Christmas decoration''' is any of several types of ornamentation used at [[Christmas]] and the greater [[Christmas and holiday season]]
In many countries, such as [[Sweden]], people start to set up their Advent and Christmas decorations on the [[Advent Sunday|first day]] of [[Advent]].<ref name="Michelin2012">{{cite book|last=Michelin|title=Germany Green Guide Michelin 2012–2013|quote=Advent – The four weeks before Christmas are celebrated by counting down the days with an advent calendar, hanging up Christmas decorations and lightning an additional candle every Sunday on the four-candle advent wreath.|date=10 October 2012|publisher=Michelin |isbn=9782067182110|page=73}}<!--|access-date=9 April 2014--></ref> [[Christian liturgy|Liturgically]], this is done in some [[parish church|parishes]] through a [[Hanging of the Greens]] ceremony.<ref name="RiceHuffstutler2001">{{cite book|last1=Rice|first1=Howard L.|last2=Huffstutler|first2=James C.|title=Reformed Worship|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|language=en |isbn=978-0-664-50147-1|page=197|quote=Another popular activity is the "Hanging of the Greens," a service in which the sanctuary is decorated for Christmas.}}<!--|access-date=5 December 2015--></ref> In the [[Western Christianity|Western Christian]] world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are [[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]] and if they are not taken down on that day, [[Candlemas]], the latter of which ends the [[Epiphanytide|Christmas-Epiphany season]] in some [[Christian denominations|denominations]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/candlemas.shtml|title=Candlemas|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=9 April 2014|quote=Any Christmas decorations not taken down by Twelfth Night (January 5th) should be left up until Candlemas Day and then taken down.}}</ref> Taking down Christmas decorations before Twelfth Night, as well as leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas, is historically considered to be inauspicious.
The traditional colors of Christmas decorations are red, green, and gold.<ref name="Collins2003"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Andersen |first=Charlotte Hilton |date=2021-10-11 |title=Why Are the Christmas Colors Red and Green? |url=https://www.rd.com/article/christmas-colors-green-red/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Reader's Digest |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-29 |title=Here's the History Behind Why Red and Green Are the Traditional Christmas Colors |url=https://www.countryliving.com/entertaining/a29622860/christmas-colors-red-green/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Country Living |language=en-US}}</ref> Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his [[crucifixion]]; green symbolizes eternal life, and in particular the evergreen tree, which does not lose its leaves in the winter; and gold is the first color associated with Christmas, as one of the three gifts of the [[Magi]], symbolizing royalty.<ref name="Collins2003">{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas |date=2003 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-87388-4 |location=Grand Rapids}}</ref>
==History==
In the 2nd century, the "earliest church records" indicate that "Christians were remembering and celebrating the birth of the Lord", an "observance [that] sprang up organically from the authentic devotion of ordinary believers"; although "they did not agree upon a set date".<ref name="English">{{cite book |last1=English |first1=Adam C. |title=Christmas: Theological Anticipations |date=October 14, 2016 |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock Publishers]] |isbn=978-1-4982-3933-2 |pages=70–71 |language=English}}</ref>
Christmas decorations have been used as part of the festive nature of the holiday (Christmas) and season (Christmastide) celebrating the [[Nativity of Jesus]].<ref name="Mosteller2008">{{cite book|last=Mosteller|first=Angie |title=Christmas|year=2008|publisher=Itasca Books|language=en|isbn=978-1607910084|page=45-176}}</ref> These include [[angel]]s, [[bell]]s, [[candy cane]]s, [[Christmas tree]]s, doves, [[holly]], [[nativity scene]]s, [[poinsetta]]s, the [[Star of Bethlehem]], and [[wreath]]s.<ref name="Mosteller2008"/><ref name="Fox2023">{{cite web |last1=Fox |first1=Kenzie |title=The origins and meanings of traditional Christmas decorations|url=https://byuiscroll.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-traditional-christmas-decorations/ |publisher=[[Brigham Young University–Idaho]] |access-date=9 January 2025 |language=English |date=20 December 2023}}</ref> The use of each of these decorations has its own [[Christian symbolism]] and history.<ref name="Mosteller2008"/><ref name="Fox2023"/> For example, [[church bell]]s are rung in order to celebrate feasts, such as Christmas, [[Easter]], [[Feast of the Ascension|Ascension Day]] and [[Pentecost]]; with respect to Christmas, the use of bells as decorations symbolize the "proclamation of joy that angels sent to the people when Christ was born."<ref name="Mosteller2008"/><ref name="Fox2023"/>
The [[Advent wreath]], which is used to mark the four weeks prior to Christmas and the arrival of Christmas, originated among the Lutherans of Germany in the 16th century.<ref name="Colbert1996">{{cite book|last=Colbert|first=Teddy|title=The Living Wreath|url=https://archive.org/details/livingwreath0000colb|url-access=registration|year=1996|publisher=Gibbs Smith|isbn=978-0-87905-700-8|page=17|quote=It is believed that the European advent wreath began as a Lutheran innovation in the sixteenth century.}}</ref><ref name="Dues1992">{{cite book |last1=Dues |first1=Greg |title=Catholic Customs & Traditions: A Popular Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Twenty-Third Publications |isbn=9780896225152 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/catholiccustomst00dues/page/46 46] |language=en |quote=Probably the most popular tradition today is the lighting of candles on an Advent Wreath in both churches and homes. This custom originated among Lutherans in Germany in the 16th century and quickly became popular in other areas. |url=https://archive.org/details/catholiccustomst00dues/page/46 }}</ref> The [[Christingle]], often lit during Christmas [[church service]]s, was invented by [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] in 19th century Britain.<ref name="Thomas2007">{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Nancy Smith |title=Moravian Christmas in the South |date=2007 |publisher=Old Salem Museums & Gardens |isbn=9780807831816 |language=en|quote=A candle-related custom called Christingle appeared sometime in the nineteenth century in British Moravian services.}}</ref>
[[Nativity play]]s were first enacted by Catholic monks in 11th century Italy.<ref name="Williams2016">{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Victoria |title=Celebrating Life Customs around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals [3 volumes] |date=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781440836596 |page=245 |language=en}}</ref> Nativity scenes have been the center of the [[Christmas putz]], a tradition of the [[Moravian Church]] that is "built to tell the Good News of the coming of the Christ Child" and "is the Gospel in miniature from Isaiah’s prophecy and Mary’s annunciation to the visit of the wisemen and the flight into Egypt."<ref name="Moravian2018">{{cite web |title=The Putz and Illumination |url=https://www.moravian.org/2018/11/the-putz-and-illumination/ |publisher=[[Moravian Church]] |access-date=3 December 2023 |language=English |date=19 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="Hillinger1985">{{cite web |last1=Hillinger |first1=Charles |title=The Star of Bethlehem Is Moravian Church Tradition |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-25-vw-21256-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=3 December 2023 |language=English |date=25 December 1985}}</ref> For Moravian Christians, the nativity scene serves to celebrate "the story of the wonder of Christ’s birth so that the Son of God can be welcomed into the hearts of the home at the Christmas."<ref name="Moravian2018"/><ref name="Hillinger1985"/>
Light is associated with Christmas as Christians teach that the Nativity of Jesus signifies that "[[Light of the World|light has come into the world]]".<ref name="Mosteller2008"/> The father of Lutheran Christianity, [[Martin Luther]], is often credited with adorning a Christmas tree with candles in the 16th century.<ref name="KubeshMcNeilBellotto2007">{{cite book |last1=Kubesh |first1=Katie |last2=McNeil |first2=Niki |last3=Bellotto |first3=Kimm |title=Symbols of Christmas |date=2007 |publisher=In the Hands of a Child |page=11 |language=en}}</ref> In the 1800s, candleholders were used to fasten candles on the trees.<ref name="KubeshMcNeilBellotto2007"/> It was not until 1924 that Christmas lights became affordable and entered households.<ref name="Mosteller2008"/>
In the 1840s, the use of a decoration symbolizing the [[Star of Bethlehem]] became popular at the highest point of the Christmas tree.<ref name="Mandryk"/>
== Tree ==
{{main|Christmas tree}}
{{further|Chrismon tree}}
[[File:User Zink Dawg 2009 Christmas Tree.jpg|thumb|A Christmas tree inside a home, with the top of the tree containing a decoration symbolizing the [[Star of Bethlehem]].<ref name="Mandryk">{{cite book |last=Mandryk |first=DeeAnn |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 |title=Canadian Christmas Traditions |date=25 October 2005 |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=978-1-55439-098-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 67] |quote=The eight-pointed star became a popular manufactured Christmas ornament around the 1840s and many people place a star on the top of their Christmas tree to represent the Star of Bethlehem.}}</ref>|370x370px]]
The [[Christmas tree]] was first used by German Lutherans in the 16th century, with records indicating that a Christmas tree was placed in the [[Strasbourg Cathedral|Cathedral of Strassburg]] in 1539, under the leadership of the [[Protestant Reformers|Protestant Reformer]], [[Martin Bucer]].<ref name="Senn2012">{{cite book |last=Senn |first=Frank C. |date=2012 |title=Introduction to Christian Liturgy |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=9781451424331 |page=118 |quote=The Christmas tree as we know it seemed to emerge in Lutheran lands in Germany in the sixteenth century. Although no specific city or town has been identified as the first to have a Christmas tree, records for the Cathedral of Strassburg indicate that a Christmas tree was set up in that church in 1539 during Martin Bucer's superintendency.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |year=1936 |title=The Christmas Tree |journal=Lutheran Spokesman |volume=29–32 |quote=The Christmas tree became a widespread custom among German Lutherans by the eighteenth century.}}</ref> In the United States, these "German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] put lighted candles on those trees."<ref name="Kelly2010">{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Joseph F. |date=2010 |title=The Feast of Christmas |publisher=Liturgical Press |isbn=9780814639320 |page=94 |quote=German Lutherans brought the decorated Christmas tree with them; the Moravians put lighted candles on those trees.}}</ref><ref name="Blainey2013">{{cite book |last=Blainey |first=Geoffrey |title=A Short History of Christianity |date=24 October 2013 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]] |isbn=9781442225909 |page=418 |quote=Many Lutherans continued to set up a small fir tree as their Christmas tree, and it must have been a seasonal sight in Bach's Leipzig at a time when it was virtually unknown in England, and little known in those farmlands of North America where Lutheran immigrants congregated.}}</ref> When [[Christmas decorations|decorating]] the Christmas tree, many individuals place a star at the top of the tree symbolizing the [[Star of Bethlehem]], a fact recorded by ''The School Journal'' in 1897.<ref name="Mandryk2005">{{cite book |last=Mandryk |first=DeeAnn |date=25 October 2005 |title=Canadian Christmas Traditions |publisher=James Lorimer & Company |isbn=9781554390984 |page=[https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 67] |quote=The eight-pointed star became a popular manufactured Christmas ornament around the 1840s and many people place a star on the top of their Christmas tree to represent the Star of Bethlehem. |url=https://archive.org/details/canadianchristma0000mand/page/67 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= Christmas in Other Lands | last= Wells | first= Dorothy | year=1897|journal=The School Journal|publisher=E.L. Kellogg & Company|volume=55|pages=697–8|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ePc9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA697 |quote=Christmas is the occasional of family reunions. Grandmother always has the place of honor. As the time approaches for enjoying the tree, she gathers her grandchildren about her, to tell them the story of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christ child, with the meaning of the Christmas tree; how the evergreen is meant to represent the life everlasting, the candle lights to recall the light of the world, and the star at the top of the tree is to remind them of the star of Bethlehem.}}</ref> Professor David Albert Jones of [[Oxford University]] writes that in the 19th century, it became popular for people also to use an angel to top the Christmas tree to symbolize the angels mentioned in the accounts of the [[Nativity of Jesus]].<ref name="Jones2011">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=David Albert |date=27 October 2011 |title=Angels |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780191614910 |page=24 |quote=The same ambiguity is seen in that most familiar of angels, the angel on top of the Christmas tree. This decoration, popularized in the nineteenth century, recalls the place of the angels in the Christmas story (Luke 2.9–18).}}</ref> In discussions of folklore, some claim that the Christmas tree is a Christianization of [[pagan]] tradition and ritual surrounding the [[winter solstice]], which included the use of [[evergreen]] boughs, and an adaptation of pagan [[tree worship]];<ref name=Shaman>van Renterghem, Tony. ''When Santa was a shaman.'' St. Paul: [[Llewellyn Worldwide|Llewellyn Publications]], 1995. {{ISBN|1-56718-765-X}}</ref> according to eighth-century biographer [[Æddi Stephanus]], [[Saint Boniface]] (634–709), who was a missionary in Germany, took an axe to an oak tree dedicated to [[Thor]] and pointed out a [[fir tree]], which he stated was a more fitting object of reverence because it pointed to [[Heaven (Christianity)|heaven]]; it had a triangular shape, which he said was symbolic of the [[Trinity]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Fritz Allhoff, Scott C. Lowe|title=Christmas|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2010|quote=His biographer, Eddius Stephanus, relates that while Boniface was serving as a missionary near Geismar, Germany, he had enough of the locals' reverence for the old gods. Taking an axe to an oak tree dedicated to Norse god Thor, Boniface chopped the tree down and dared Thor to zap him for it. When nothing happened, Boniface pointed out a young fir tree amid the roots of the oak and explained how this tree was a more fitting object of reverence as it pointed towards the Christian heaven and its triangular shape was reminiscent of the Christian trinity.}}</ref> However, the English-language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835<ref name=Harper>Harper, Douglas, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Christ Christ], ''Online Etymology Dictionary,'' 2001.</ref> and represents an importation from the German language.<ref name="Christmas Archives">{{cite web|url = http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html|title = The Chronological History of the Christmas Tree|publisher = The Christmas Archives|access-date = December 18, 2007|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071221113003/http://www.christmasarchives.com/trees.html|archive-date = December 21, 2007|df = mdy-all}}</ref> From Germany the custom was introduced to England via two German-born royal consorts, [[Queen Charlotte]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]]. The influential 1840s image of [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Christmas tree#18th and 19th centuries|decorated evergreen]] was republished in the United States. As the first widely circulated picture of a decorated Christmas tree in America, the custom there spread.<ref name=AFP>Shoemaker, Alfred Lewis. (1959) Christmas in Pennsylvania: a folk-cultural study. Edition 40. p.52,53.
Stackpole Books 1999. {{ISBN|0-8117-0328-2}}</ref> Christmas trees may be decorated with [[Christmas lights (holiday decoration)|lights]] and [[Christmas ornaments|ornaments]]. [[Mount Ingino Christmas Tree]] in [[Gubbio]] in [[Italy]] is the tallest Christmas tree in the world.<ref name="tripsavvy">{{Cite web|title=Celebrate Christmas Italian Styles at These City Events|url=https://www.tripsavvy.com/christmas-traditions-things-to-do-italy-4176880|access-date=January 26, 2021|website=TripSavvy|language=en}}</ref>
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[[File:Carnegie Presepio.JPG|thumb|[[Neapolitan nativity scene|Neapolitan ''presepio'']] at the [[Carnegie Museum of Art]] in Pittsburgh]]
[[Nativity scene|Nativity scenes]] are known from 10th-century Rome. The first living nativity scene, attributed to [[Saint Francis of Assisi]], occurred in 1223 in the Italian town of [[Greccio]], quickly spreading across Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Ace |title=Stories behind the great traditions of Christmas |last2=Hansen |first2=Clint |date=2003 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-24880-4 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich |pages=47}}</ref> Different types of decorations developed across the Christian world, dependent on local tradition and available resources, and can vary from simple representations of the crib to far more elaborate sets – renowned manger scene traditions include the colourful ''[[Kraków szopka]]'' in Poland,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weber |first=Susan Topp |url=https://archive.org/details/nativitiesofworl0000webe/mode/2up |title=Nativities of the world |date=2013 |publisher=Layton, Utah : Gibbs Smith |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-4619-5398-2}}</ref> which imitate [[Kraków]]'s historical buildings as settings, the elaborate Italian ''presepi'' ([[Presepe napoletano|Neapolitan]] <sup>[it]</sup>, [[Presepe genovese|Genoese]] <sup>[it]</sup> and [[Presepe bolognese|Bolognese]] <sup>[it]</sup>),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-27 |title=Alla scoperta dei cinque presepi più belli di Bologna {{!}} Nuok |url=http://www.nuok.it/bulagna/alla-scoperta-dei-cinque-presepi-piu-belli-di-bologna/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227041612/http://www.nuok.it/bulagna/alla-scoperta-dei-cinque-presepi-piu-belli-di-bologna/ |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Presepi in Liguria: provincia di Genova, Tigullio -sito di Paolino". Digilander.libero.it. |url=http://digilander.libero.it/paolore2/liguria/presepi.html |access-date=2024-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227022942/http://digilander.libero.it/paolore2/liguria/presepi.html |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-27 |title=Holidays at the Museums : Carnegie Museum of Natural History |url=http://www.carnegiemnh.org/visit/default.aspx?id=21487 |access-date=2024-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227022432/http://www.carnegiemnh.org/visit/default.aspx?id=21487 |archive-date=December 27, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date=2022-12-25 |title=The Christian Travelers Guide to Italy - David Bershad, Carolina Mangone, Irving Hexham - Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llTiET5oCR4C&dq=neapolitan+nativity+scene&pg=PA112 |access-date=2024-12-22 |isbn=978-0-310-22573-7 |last1=Bershad |first1=David |last2=Mangone |first2=Carolina |last3=Hexham |first3=Irving |publisher=Harper Collins }}</ref> or the [[Provence|Provençal]] crèches in [[Le Midi|southern]] France, using hand-painted terracotta figurines called ''[[Santon (figurine)|santons]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-09-14 |title=The Provençal Nativity Scene |url=https://archive.
In certain parts of the world, notably [[Sicily]], living nativity scenes following the tradition of Saint Francis are a popular alternative to static crèches.<ref>{{Cite book |date=2022-12-25 |title=Celebrating Christmas: An Anthology - Carl Seaburg - Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLB-UkN5UHYC&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily&pg=PT30 |access-date=2024-12-22 |isbn=978-0-595-30974-0 |last1=Seaburg |first1=Carl |publisher=iUniverse }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date=2022-12-25 |title=The World Encyclopedia of Christmas - Gerry Bowler - Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGaVZ6fEjjsC&dq=living+nativity+scenes+sicily&pg=PT478 |access-date=2024-12-22 |isbn=978-1-55199-607-3 |last1=Bowler |first1=Gerry |publisher=McClelland & Stewart }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-26 |title=A Christmas Living Nativity Scene In Sicily {{!}} Italy Magazine |url=http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/christmas-living-nativity-scene-sicily |access-date=2024-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226023729/http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/christmas-living-nativity-scene-sicily |archive-date=December 26, 2013 }}</ref> The first commercially produced decorations appeared in Germany in the 1860s, inspired by paper chains made by children.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Collins |first=Ace |title=Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas |date=2003 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-87388-4 |location=Grand Rapids |pages=83}}</ref> In countries where a representation of the [[Nativity scene]] is very popular, people are encouraged to compete and create the most original or realistic ones. Within some families, the pieces used to make the representation are considered a valuable family [[heirloom]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Joesten |first=Joachim |date=1947 |title=The Strange Ways of German Democracy |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/4609187 |journal=The Antioch Review |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=17–22 |doi=10.2307/4609187 |jstor=4609187 |issn=0003-5769}}</ref>
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[[Wreath]]s are made from real or artificial [[conifer]] branches, or sometimes other [[Broad-leaved tree|broadleaf]] evergreens or [[holly]]. Several types of evergreen or even [[deciduous]] [[branch]]es may be used in the same wreath, along with [[pinecone]]s and sprays of [[berries]], and [[Christmas ornament]]s including [[jingle bell]]s. A bow is usually used at the top or bottom, and an electric or unlit candle may be placed in the middle. Christmas lights are often used, and they may be hung from doors or windows, and sometimes walls, lampposts, light fixtures, or even statuary.
From the 17th century, friars of the Franciscan Christian [[Religious order#Christianity|religious order]] in Mexico included the plants in their Christmas celebrations.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jauron |first=Richard |url=http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1995/12-8-1995/trad.html |title=The Legends and Traditions of Holiday Plants |work=Horticulture and Home Pest News |publisher=Iowa State University |date=December 8, 1995 |access-date=November 27, 2017}}</ref> The star-shaped leaf pattern of the [[poinsettia]] is said to symbolize the [[Star of Bethlehem]], the red color represents the blood shed during the sacrifice of [[crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus' crucifixion]], and the white leaves represent the purity of Jesus.<ref name="Caviness2020">{{cite web |url=https://www.umc.org/en/content/the-poinsettia-tells-jesus-life-story |title=The poinsettia: Jesus' life story in a plant |website=United Methodist Church |first=Crystal|last=Caviness |access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref>
== Outdoors ==
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== Season ==
{{further|Christmastide}}
[[File:A Dapitan tiangge stall sells Santa Claus figurines and other Christmas decorations ahead of the 'ber months' in Quezon City on August 31, 2022.jpg|thumb|Santa Claus figurines and other Christmas decorations sold in [[Quezon City]], Philippines ahead of the "ber" months on August 31, 2022]]
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