And digging in is the appropriate word for today, as we tell you about an annual tradition here in Boston. YOU may have to wait until December 25th for YOUR Christmas, but WE celebrate it a tad earlier here in Boston. How early? Try September 1st! That's the day that all the locals gather together to see what surprises Santa has left us, good AND bad little boys and girls alike, in a magical, mystical and even somewhat smelly ritual called An Allston Christmas. Let me turn this over to JohnJohn Goose from the Urban Dictionary to describe the wonder:
Allston Christmas is September 1st in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. With the hundreds of thousands of college students that move into, out of, and across Boston on September 1st, there is a great deal of furniture and other household items that are either left temporarily or discarded on the sidewalks of Allston, Brighton, Mission Hill, The Fenway, Cambridge, Brookline, and other student-rich sections of the Boston area. Allston 'Christmas' refers to the bounty of "new" stuff that one can easily acquire free of cost simply by walking down to the sidewalk and running off with it back into your own apartment. Much of the items that are left on the sidewalk are free to take because people can't fit them into their new apartment or don't have enough space in the truck to move them. However, many of the items are simply left on the sidewalk temporarily and are rummaged (read: 'stolen') by the neighbors in the chaos that is the city of Boston on Septemer 1st.
"I got a new microwave for Allston Christmas -- it was free and delivered right to my door! I love moving day!" - OR - "I need a new table, but I don't have any money. Good thing Allston Christmas is coming up. Five-finger discounts for the win!"
How popular is the Allston Christmas? Well, it has its own song dedicated to it: (http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/allston_brighton/2011/09/former_resident_bu_alum_releas.html) , and a 12-part web series (http://www.allstonxmas.com/).
And now the downside ... you knew there was going to be a downside, right? Well, aside from what JohnJohn wrote above about items 'rummaged' right off the sidewalk [savvy parents know to camp out with their kids' stuff while moving in at all times, lest they come back to an empty sidewalk], the bigger, nastier, squirmier problem is the 'extras' you get with an Allston Christmas. Take, for example, Bambi above. You and your slightly inebriated roommates decide he's a MUST HAVE for your first apartment and will be quite the conversation piece above the faux mantelpiece. You host your first party, the cops come and bust it up ... success all around. Eventually the party breaks up, some folks leave, others crash at your place ... and then, after a few hours of quiet, snoring (and probably a visit to the Porcelain God for some newbie), you feel an itch ... or two ... or A THOUSAND ... and some bites ... more and more ... and MORE ... YEP! Allston Santa's Little Helpers have arrived - in the forms of bedbugs and rats that have been living in Bambi's taxidermied head or that great 'barely used' mattress or piece of furniture you were so proud of! Welcome to college, kids! :) So in that regard it's very much like regular Christmas ... you never know what you're going to get - sometimes it's nice, sometimes ... not so much! To see more pix and a writeup on just how HUGE this is every year, look here: (http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/allston_brighton/Gallery/allston_christmas/).I think that gives you a taste - a creepy, crawly taste - of the kinds of things you'll find here as we take our annual wild and wooly tour of the Christmas trends and traditions that other folks don't even talk about! Tune in tomorrow for more!
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