According to Wikipedia, Christmas in July can trace its roots back to 1892 in the release of a translation of the French opera, Werther. A later journal article for the National Recreation Association makes it clear that a type of Christmas in July celebration was a girl’s summer camp activity in 1935 and by 1940 the movie, Christmas in July, had a theatrical release.

The first year we put out the Charlie Brown Christmas tree to albums of holiday tunes had been filled with unemployment, home stresses, job hunting, and cancer. I had known that the Hallmark and ABC Family channels would sometimes roll out some Christmas specials in July, but when my household first embraced the pseudo holiday it felt new and unique and utterly necessary. The years since haven’t all been so eventful, thank heavens, but July still seems like a good time for a reminder to love each other, practice charitable acts, and embrace a spirit of giving that doesn’t really need to happen only once a year.