ADVENT CALENDARS never used to be much fun. Each day in December, as part of the lead-up to Christmas, you would peel back a card door to reveal a Bible verse or a picture of a church bell. Only if your parents were cool would you get a chocolate calendar.
These days, however, Advent calendars feature fewer bells and more bells and whistles. You can buy one not just for your children, but also for your parents, pets and even the birds in your garden. If you are feeling indulgent you can choose a calendar stuffed with port wine or pork scratchings. If you are on a pre-Christmas health kick you can pick one filled with protein powder or workout gear. Some calendars are sumptuous: a 12-day caviar countdown will set you back almost $1,000. Others are sensible (24 tools) or silly (24 pots of slime).
Shoppers cannot get enough of them. A recent poll by Ipsos in Britain found that 72% of respondents buy Advent calendars. A calendar by Bonne Maman, a jam brand, sells out in America every year; the brand has increased production by 400% since 2017 to meet demand. Beauty is also pretty popular: Space NK’s cosmetics calendar, one of the most popular of 2025, sold out in weeks.
Advent calendars can seem odd. The tradition started in the early 19th century with German Protestants who marked the season by lighting candles or drawing lines of chalk. Paper calendars spread across the world after the second world war, when spirits needed lifting.
Why have they taken off? One reason is that today’s Advent calendars speak to “the trend of small indulgences”, says Liz Morgan of Fortnum & Mason, a British department store. Calendars offer a taste of luxury, akin to indulging in a fancy coffee. Leonard Lauder, a cosmetics tycoon, called it the “lipstick effect”: sales of the makeup product rose during economic downturns as women sought a forgivably inexpensive pick-me-up.
They often contain appealingly exclusive or collectable products. Liberty included a limited-edition bag in its popular Advent calendar this year; the London department store held a swanky party in September to celebrate its release. Rare products create a buzz on social media. There are 1.3m videos tagged #AdventCalendar on TikTok.
Advent calendars offer benefits for brands, such as attracting new customers. Some are eager to extend the custom beyond Christmas. Halloween Advent calendars have already started spooking the shelves. Kate Turvey, director of the Advent Calendar Shop, which stocks more than 500 different types, reckons countdowns to Mother’s Day or birthdays other than Jesus’s may soon take off. Who wouldn’t want that festive feeling of anticipation all year round? ■