Victor, Orthocat was probably remembering the practice of his family. I remember shopping with my Mom and I'm older than anyone here......... (bet 'cha)
Thank you. And yes my family didn't shop for Christmas gifts until Christmas Eve prior to going to Midnight Mass. You can get very creative when you are resigned to selecting something in stores not stocked to the ceiling! We usually got practical things or sometimes a bargain since retailers thought Christmas was "over". Plus, we also decorated our tree on Christmas Eve as well. As kids it made the day extra special. Also, we didn't take down decorations on Dec. 26 like the rest of the neighborhood, but left them up till Epiphany on Jan. 6th.
75 year old pious Catholic here. We never waited to do shopping on Christmas Eve. It is (was) no sin to shop during Advent. I think what you are remembering is a Movie fiction.
Remember when pious Catholics didn't even go shopping until Christmas Eve for presents since they were concentrating on observing Advent for weeks? Now it's just mindless consumerism!