Inflatable decorations have been a thing since the early 2000s.
They are probably the most misused decoration item of the 21st century – today’s birthday parties feature them prominently.
Just like any other type of decoration item, they don’t fit everywhere.
So, Are Inflatable Christmas Decorations Tacky?
In one word – “Yes.” The more elaborate your inflatable Christmas decorations are (as often are) the tackier they look. Things may get worse if you inflate and light up to point of looking a bit too cartoony. You don’t want your decorations to grab the charm and warmth from the beautiful festive season. Deflated decorations don’t look great either – they typically resemble large pieces of trash abandoned in the yard.
Christmas inflatables can be tacky to a point of being creepy.
At night, for instance, all you could see in your neighbor’s yard is a scary Cheshire-snowman face with glowing eyes, animated LEDs that screams for attention from afar, and perhaps a grinning or gawping Santa.
Besides giving you chills, such sights can scare pets and kids from getting outside at night.
The Giant Fake Snowman
They are probably the tackiest of all Christmas inflatable décor.
Some are made from nothing but large Styrofoam balls held together by hot glue.
The plastic sheets forming the coating often peel off, flapping like a grotesque scarecrow.
Most of them and the largest of all, however, are simple inflatable tube-like units that get dirty the longer they remain outside.
If they are white and keep coming into contact with the ground for some reason, you might need to wash them once in a while.
Reindeers, Santa Claus, Chariots, And Other Unidentified Inflated Objects (UIOs)
Forget about the giant fake snowman, inflated Santa Claus is probably the tackiest of all Christmas decor on the planet.
Yet there are few among us who think they look great on the lawn.
Anyone who likes orderliness and all good things knows all they are an eyesore even when they are at best.
More often than not, they lose their air for some reason, maybe because they are cheap and can’t hold back the air.
Deflated lawn décor is one of the lowest things to look at on Christmas eve – they resemble overstayed lawn garbage still awaiting collection.
I’ve seen neighbors resort to all kinds of strange things during Christmas but there’s this one old lady who stands out in my mind.
She once let her flaccid Santa Claus linger in the yard, deflated, until March the following year!
Trying to be a good neighbor, I remember crossing over and trying to restore it but couldn’t – she even shrieking at me.
There’s also this tiny home I cycled past a few times last Christmas: the owner must have installed ten inflatable decorations right in front of it to the gate.
The yard was equally tiny, I estimated 25′ x 10′.
One morning I cycled by as usual but to the sight of unlit figures, perhaps a result of an electrical failure.
They all lay on the ground, some of them wobbling sideways in the morning cold.
The scene resembled a Christmas Eve cartoon massacre.
Like Halloween Inflatables, Christmas Decorations Must Stay Plugged in
You don’t just inflate your Santa Claus and leave him alone until the festive season is over. To keep him floating, you must keep him plugged into an air supply.
Virtually all inflatables of this kind, including Halloween decorations, don’t feature seals like air mattresses or kid pools, so a continuous inflow of air must be maintained the entire time they are in operation.
Some of the newest inflatable decorations in the market today are equipped with 2 electrical connectors – one ensures the unit remains inflated and the other supports the lighting.
This ensures they operate 24/7 though the lighting part can be turned off during the day to conserve power.
Old models are a little troublesome to deal with as they are equipped with a single electrical plug – if you turn off the lights at any time, even daytime, the whole unit collapses into a big pile of multicolored vinyl.
Depending on how big it is, you will have a hard time folding this mess of decoration. Also, pray hard it doesn’t rain or get dewy when it collapses.
Off-topic Inflatable Decorations (The Giant “Patriotic” Christmas Eagle)
Then some folks would install anything inflatable, including decorations that have very little or nothing to do with Christmas.
For instance, nothing screams “I VOTED FOR TRUMP” louder than Christmas decoration bearing his image even though the two aren’t related.
Be in the know that it isn’t entirely a bad or good thing to vote for Trump.
With that said, I think installing a giant inflatable “patriotic” eagle holding an American flag on Christmas Eve is a little bit off-topic and tacky.
Thanks to modern society’s mindless consumerism, you can have a bunch of these delivered to your doorstep a day to Christmas Eve at a throwaway price.
Here’s the real nuisance factor: most of those who raise irrelevant inflatables sometimes do so to put across a point, often an offensive/annoying message.
If you manage to put with the offensive messages, you might as well endure the low-pitched hums generated during inflation with hot air.
Low-quality decorations are prone to burst under the hot sun.
The airless remains eventually end up on the lawn in a mess that closely resembles a plastic graveyard. airlessness.
Why Do Some People Keep Up Their Christmas Décor for So Long?
I’m a culprit of this. Christmas Eve and Boxing Day are part of a long festive season that starts a few days before 25th December to New Year’s Eve.
If you live in a place like Canada where the winter weather is usually chaotic, you may be tempted to leave your outdoor decorations up a little longer, possibly past 1st January.
If the weather is so bad, you don’t want to toil outside trying to pull down the décor on 27th December.
Secondly, some of us are strongly attached to the Christmas tradition and always want to suck the juice out of it to the first week of January.
I like to keep my Christmas tree standing from the start of December to the 2nd January. Who doesn’t like looking at a blinking Xmas tree?
It doesn’t hurt others if you leave your Christmas decorations up for a long time but don’t let them stand until Easter.
Conclusion
So, are inflatable Christmas decorations tacky? Yes, certainly.
Even worse, the more elaborate your inflatable Christmas decorations are (as often are) the tackier they look.
Things may move from worse to worst if you inflate and light up to point of looking a bit too cartoony.
You don’t want your decorations to grab the charm and warmth from the beautiful festive season.
References
http://brentreser.com/2017/11/festive-or-tacky-holiday-inflatable-lawn-decorations/