Werther, an 1892 French opera with libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann, had an English translation published in 1894 by Elizabeth Beall Ginty.

It is a translation of the French: "vous chantez Noël en juillet... c'est s'y prendre à l'avance.

"[3] The term, if not the exact concept, was given national attention with the release of the Hollywood movie comedy Christmas in July in 1940, written and directed by Preston Sturges.

The pastor explained that the special service was patterned after a programme held each summer at his former church in Philadelphia, when the congregation would present Christmas gifts early to give ample time for their distribution to missions worldwide.

[8] The U.S. Post Office and U.S. Army and Navy officials, in conjunction with the American advertising and greeting card industries, threw a Christmas in July luncheon in New York in 1944 to promote an early Christmas mailing campaign for service men overseas during World War II.

[10] American advertisers began using Christmas in July themes in print for summertime sales as early as 1950.

Some individuals choose to celebrate Christmas in July themselves, typically as an intentionally transparent excuse to have a party.

This is partly because most bargainers sell Christmas goods around July to make room for next year's inventory.

In the Northern Hemisphere, a Christmas in July celebration is deliberately ironic; the July climate is typically hot and either sunny or rainy with thunderstorms, as opposed to the cold and snowy conditions traditionally associated with Christmas celebrations in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

[citation needed] A summer Christmas celebration is held on June 25 annually in Italy and worldwide.

In the last 8 years, the celebrations have taken place mainly in Sardinia, but the tradition is spreading across the world and becoming a worldwide movement.