Let's just say you're a kid, learning about religion, what B.C. means, and the birth of the baby Jesus and stuff. And maybe you learn that Santa Claus is based on Saint Nicolas and Kris Kringle, and that the modern image of Santa — as a jolly man in red — first became popular in 1881. Does Santa leaning over the baby Jesus in a manger make sense to you?

Nothing says "Christmastime" or "Winter Wonderland" like a disembodied alien head. O come all ye faithful!

This is when you know your love of TV has gone a tad too far. Surgically remove yourself from the couch and go outside.

We've previously discussed the pizza and the Coke cans: I'll admit that N. — the Coca-Cola cup — is pretty cool. I have no problem with the mushroom, since they do grow on trees, but the tomato? No comprende.

Everyone knows that when he's not passing out toys for girls and boys, Santa lives below a rainbow outside of Dublin, guarding his pot of gold.

Certain foods seem right for Christmas: Gingerbread, sugar cookies… fortune cookies, SUSHI. Who doesn't want fake raw fish rolls? On a tree? Man, this stuff is so weird, it's enough to drive you to drink.

Luckily, they've got booze, too! Now if they'd just make a gin and tonic ornament…

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Trebay asked himself: "Was that Santa ornament really wearing camouflage, with a shotgun held to his torso and a dead mallard slung from his belt?" Of course he was! The ornaments may bring joy and color to the lives of shoppers, but the folks at Bronner's know that the tacky holiday crap they shill is, in fact, totally useless. "There is not a thing out there that anybody needs," Wayne Bronner, the president of Bronner’s, tells Trebay. But:

Not much on the sales floor at Bronner’s costs more than $10, [Bronner] said. "Even in times of economic turmoil, there comes a moment every fall when people look at the calendar and see that Christmas is still coming and it’s still on Dec. 25," added the company president, who that day had chosen from among his collection of novelty neckties one patterned with Christmas bulbs. "The $10 ornament that’s the perfect gift for Grandpa or Uncle Rob is not going to make or break anybody’s budget," he said.

And yet. The cold, hard truth is: You don't need this stuff. Trebay writes about the "150 different styles of nutcrackers; ornaments that said 'Merry Christmas' in 70 languages; display cases filled with ranks of sinister Hummel kiddies; 1,700 Precious Moments cherubs with woeful teardrop eyes; 500 Nativity sets from 70 nations; and Christmas balls in 6,000 styles" and it seems unjustifiably lavish. Christ himself didn't have a Christmas tree, and didn't he live in poverty? At a time of lay-offs, a weak U.S. dollar and general malaise, does spending hard-earned cash on sparkly do-dads make sense? Can a person — on a budget or with cash to burn — justify a glittery Elvis or Bigfoot ornament when the country is in financial crisis?

Excuse Me, Where’s Thanksgiving? [NY Times]

Earlier: 9 Really Weird Christmas Ornaments From Bronner's
9 More Weird Christmas Ornaments From Bronner's