It truly was a day of conspicuous consumption. I suppose you know that the phrase was coined by the American economist and sociologist, Thorsten Veblen (1857-1929), and that it became the duty and the occupation of the middle-class American housewife to spend her husband's money to show off his economic power and prestige. Veblen developed the idea in his book The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899). I think the attitude lasted until WWII when Rosie the Riveter sent her man off to war and then when he returned, didn't want to quit her day job outside the home. And then it became impossible for a couple/family to live as well as they wanted to without two incomes. And somewhere along the way, inconspicuous consumption became a new ideal.

I found some stuff on IC (Inconspicuous Consumption) that is PC (Politically Correct), by the way, and rather than try to condense itI will refer you to it: "The Seven Laws of Inconspicuous Consumption" by Perry Garfinkel. You know it all already: thinking green, reducing your footprint on the planet, being a locavore as far as possible, and so on. During WWII, which most of you won't remember (I was pretty young then, too), there was a little verse that reminded people not to waste precious material (required for the war effort):

Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Do without

That's a fine attitude to remind you of, and make you feel guilty about, the day after Christmas. Have a great day!

merry: ORIGIN Old English myrige‘pleasing, delightful,’ of Germanic origin; related to mirth.

merry throngs of students: cheerful, cheery, in high spirits, high-spirited, bright, sunny, smiling, lighthearted, buoyant, lively, carefree, without a care in the world, joyful, joyous, jolly,convivial, festive, mirthful, gleeful, happy, glad, laughing; informal chirpy; formal jocund; dated gay; literary blithe. ANTONYMS miserable. [Online Dictionary]

Do you like any of those synonyms? I quite like jocund. Note there is only one antonym - miserable. I may not qualify for all of the synonyms of merry but I certainly am not miserable. I know miserable, not to the depths of pain, hunger and despair of far too many people in the world, but some kind of miserable, more emotional than physical. I am truly blessed, and I know it. Thank you!

blessed are the meek: favored, fortunate, lucky, privileged, enviable, happy. ANTONYMS wretched.

Favoured, yes (note the u in my Canadian spelling). Favoured, fortunate and lucky. Again, thank you.

I am certainly not complaining. Years ago, fourscore, in fact, when I began to write essays at university, I used to look up every key word in an assignment and then use the synonyms as a guide to an outline of what I wanted to say about the subject at hand. I know of two writers who have used something like this approach. One was the poet and etymologist, John Ciardi (1916-1986), who had a regular column in (Saturday Review) that I loved; the other is the creative non-fiction writer, John McPhee, also a regular columnist (The New Yorker). I remember an article in which he illustrated the way he used the dictionary to provide him with apt phrases expressing what he wanted to say.

Writing, it is said, maketh an exact man (woman). So does a dictionary, before the fact, and etymology helps.

I'm still on merry. Soon, my dear, extravagant family will be awake and we will begin our glorious, excessive consumption of this day.

The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart
William Wordsworth