On beaches, at campgrounds and in nightclubs, a spirit of whimsy takes hold during the height of the summer, as revelers dust off their Santa hats, reindeer sweaters and elf shoes to celebrate Christmas in July.
There will be a frenzy of anachronistic Yuletide fun across Jersey this weekend, a custom that dates back more than a half-century.
St. Nick is going to hold court on boardwalks and poolside at RV resorts. From Sussex to Cape May, there’s a polar vortex of glittering winter merriment on tap, never mind the heat and humidity.
"It’s fun because it’s weird," said Frank Sementa, owner of D’Jais Bar & Grill in Belmar, which has been holding jingle bell parties in July since 1970. "It’s the silliness of it, the juxtaposition of Christmas-y things in the middle of the summer."
Christmas in July is a party theme as well as a marketing hook for retailers during the doldrums between Independence Day and back-to-school shopping.
RV travelers say the midsummer mistletoe tradition started in campgrounds, not at department stores. Generations of families have shared festive meals al fresco with their summer friends and created blazingly bright light shows around their motor homes.
"You'll see Christmas in July at car dealerships and malls, but at campgrounds it's always been a way for people who don't see each other during the winter to have Christmas dinner together," said Peggy Lake, who works at the TripleBrook Family Camping Resort in Blairstown. "We have people who are scattered all over the state. We have people from Florida and North Carolina."
Sementa said Christmas in July actually started at beach bars. When he and his band, Holme, began performing at D'Jais more than four decades ago, the nightspot put on costume theme nights during the summer, inviting clubgoers to dress up for New Year’s Eve and St. Patrick’s Day. Sementa and his band members suggested adding a Christmas bash.
"D’Jais was the first club to do it that I knew of," Sementa said. "We didn’t do it because we heard someone else was doing it. We did it because D’Jais had a New Year’s Eve party and it made sense to add Christmas the week before. It immediately took off because it captured people’s imaginations and it became more elaborate each year. We gave out candy canes."
There’s no definitive origin story for the phenomenon. "Christmas in July" is the title of a 1940 Preston Sturges movie, but it’s not a Santa story. It’s about a man who is tricked into thinking he has won a sweepstakes prize.
Christmas in July is celebrated internationally. The World Santa Claus Congress in Copenhagen has been held in July every year since 1957. The three-day convention includes a Kris Kringle volleyball tournament and a plunge in the sea, called Santa’s Annual Saltwater Footbath.
In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s warm and sunny in December, so people get together in July for holiday dinners with a wintry backdrop. And in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney, Australia, there’s a monthlong event called Yulefest.
"It is largely an excuse to eat a traditional British Christmas meal, with roasts, plum puddings, brandy sauce, which are unsuitable for summer dining," Phillip Ward, a Sydney librarian, said in an email. "Until recently these heavy, hot meals were de rigueur for December 25. In recent times at Christmas there has been a swing to cold collations, often involving seafood platters and fruit-based desserts."
And the celebrating doesn’t stop at Christmas. A 2-foot menorah will glow alongside the Christmas bulbs at TripleBrook this weekend. Ann Jones of Iselin, who works for a company that designs commercial holiday displays, asked her boss if she could borrow one of the firm’s Chanukah lawn ornaments.
"This is the first year I’m doing this," said Jones. "I’m bringing the menorah because the owners of the campground are Jewish. They do Christmas in July for everybody and I felt that we should have a menorah for them, too."
Carolyn Williams said she and her husband, Mark, of Wharton, create an elaborate winter wonderland outside their motor home at TripleBrook, with a Santa mannequin in an illuminated lawnchair and a red golf cart that looks like a sleigh. He got two model deer targets from a hunting shop and put them out front. One has its nose painted red.
"We go over the top," Williams said. "It started with just a few lights and it’s become progressively bigger. There are strands of lights in the trees and a 4-foot star that’s up in the air 20 feet."
Christmas in July is hot on the Jersey Shore.
Toby Wolf, a spokeswoman for Jenkinson's in Point Pleasant Beach, said the boardwalk amusement park's annual children's event has been growing over the past decade. On Wednesday, Santa paid a visit.
"It seems like a lot more people are doing Christmas in July parties," said Wolf. "It used to be easy to find Santa hats and decorations in the stores. This year, everyone was cleaned out."
Tomorrow at 1 p.m., Santa will roll through North Wildwood in a decorated truck, trailed by a posse of lifeguards performing Christmas tunes on banjos.
"Every three blocks, he stops and interacts with the families, and the kids love seeing Santa on the beach," said Tom McGuigan, a former lifeguard who helps organize the appearance."
The Holly Shores Camping Resort in Cape May is holding a fusion Christmas shindig and luau, inviting people to wear Santa hats and grass skirts. Activities include campfire caroling and summer sledding with ice blocks on slippery tarps. An 8-foot snowball sits in front of the LED-lit pool, which glimmers red and green. St. Nick will be on hand, in a plus-sized Hawaiian shirt. Elvis may drop by, too.
"We go all out," said Sarah Mathis, Holly Shores’ assisting marketing director and activities coordinator."
Christmas in July, people say, is a kick because it has all the beloved eccentricities of the holiday without any of the stress. It’s great, unless you’re the guy cloaked in red and white from head to toe under the sweltering sun, said Kenny Baxter, a TripleBrook camper who has portrayed Santa for three years.
"It’s a lot," Baxter said, "but I enjoy it because it’s for the kids."
More Christmas in July events
• Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Daughters of the American Revolution present Christmas in July fundraiser at the Elias VanBunschooten Museum, 1097 Route 23, Wantage.Historical Christmas decor, house tours, crafts, vendors, live music, reenactors, auction. Call (973) 875-7634 for details.
• Friday, 10 p.m., Christmas in July at the Pool After Dark at Harrah's Resort, 777 Harrah's Blvd., Atlantic City. Music by DJ Hollywood and a special appearance by a mystery guest. Cover charge is $10 and up. Call (609) 441-5585 for details.
• Saturday, 2 p.m., Christmas in July at Pleasant Acres Farm Campground, 61 DeWitt Road, Sussex. Santa, Christmas carols, gift exchange, Christmas karaoke. Call (800) 722-4166 for rates and reservations.