After finishing my Christmas card, I noticed this article – what’s happening with spending this holiday season.
• LA Times > “Americans are feeling Grinchy …” by Matt K. Lewis (12-19-2025)
The holidays have arrived once again. You know, that annual festival of goodwill, compulsory spending and the dawning realization that Santa and Satan are anagrams.
Even in the best of years, Americans stagger through this season feeling financially woozy. This year, however, the picture is bleaker. And a growing number of Americans are feeling Grinchy.
At the end of the day, … No amount of spin or “manifesting” an alternate reality will change that.
When mister grinchy comes this way … donations dwindle … chaos competes with caring …
• LA Times > “Most Americans turning away from year-end giving” by James Pollard and Linley Sanders (12-25-2025) – The survey … was conducted in early December by the Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
NEW YORK — Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets.
But weaker income gains and steep price inflation meant that lower-income households had less money to redistribute. Other surveys also have found a years-long decline in the number of individuals who give.
But Americans were much more likely to make a Black Friday purchase than a Giving Tuesday gift this year.
Dr. Seuss’ holiday parable remains popular and profitable. Oddly, the Grinch is “Christmas’ most sought-after sourpuss.” In sour times, perhaps he’s more relatable than a godly figure like Santa; so, does this hint at hope of finding a feel-good through line?
• LA Times > “Tough 2025 makes Grinch an A-lister” by Sonja Sharp (12-25-2025) – Furry villain is in big demand at costume shops. How did he steal so many hearts?
Target touts its “Grinchmas,” while Walmart has “WhoKnewVille.” McDonald’s sells Grinch fries, Starbucks features a “secret menu” frappuccino.
Darnell [actor Nick Darnell] called the chartreuse baddie he portrays “the modern-day Santa.”
“People today love to connect with the villain,” said the viral Grinch impersonator. “The world is just a darker world now.”
But impersonators, academics and even working Santas agree: Americans’ embrace of the Grinch in 2025 goes far beyond consumerism.
“It’s definitely more popular,” said “Santa” Ed Taylor, the famed Los Angeles Santa behind the Worldwide Santa Claus Network, a training camp for the art of Christmas cheer. “It’s a little yin and yang. Maybe we need a little bit of both.”
Seuss’ Grinch sits somewhere in the middle — cuddlier than Krampus and pricklier than Santa — making him the perfect avatar for a moody, uncertain age.
