Obviously, time is a social construct, but without it, we would not be as organized or punctual as we are now. We have watches and clocks everywhere to measure each second of our day, and technology is so advanced that the icon for my “Clock” app on the home screen of my phone changes constantly. The second, minute and hour hands of the clock are perfectly in sync with the time. However, there is nothing like a calendar when we need to measure time on a larger scale.
The concept of calendars is to keep a record of the time, but there is another crucial aspect to calendars that is completely unrelated to its time-tracking abilities. Physical calendars, especially the large poster ones, display joy-inspiring “calendar art.” Calendar art is a unique, creative, artistic media that exists due to the commercialization and marketing of calendars. That’s right; without capitalistic desire to profit off calendars, we would not have those stacks of tempting adorable puppy photos right next to the cash registers at Bed Bath and Beyond. Of course, there are more than just puppies. Calendar art appreciates everything from cacti to vintage Snoopy cartoons.
However, calendar art raises a question: if people like pictures of puppies, cacti, and vintage Snoopy cartoons so much, then why don’t they just buy posters? Why is “art” so appealing when it’s part of calendar? I believe I have an answer. Humans enjoy reaping more than one benefit from one thing, and calendar art provides people with the practicality of calendars and the excitement that one feels through revealing a new picture every month.
Calendar art truly spices up the dull grids of numbers into a piece of home interior decoration.