Black Friday

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I grew up in New York.  Back then, it was the biggest retail center in the world.  That was even before folks tried to merge New York, Boston, and Washington into one big sales region.

And, today would have been the first day that XMas shopping began.  Earlier this week, the big stores of the day- Macy’s, Gimbel’s, A&S, Lord & Taylor, Tiffany’s, & F.A.O. Schwartz- would have had their windows redone to welcome every passerby to gawk and gander.  A true spectacle of delights.  (This didn’t include the legendary Gimbel’s-Macy’s Santa Clause battle, as depicted in the first Miracle on 34th Street.) Every PA system in every shop would play countless Christmas Songs.  Most of with which I was totally unfamiliar..-

But, that’s changed nowadays.  No, I am not talking about the demise of Gimbel’s, A&S, and F.A.O. Schwartz.

Nope, nowadays, it seems that XMas shopping begins on Columbus Day.  The radio waves play incessant Christmas Songs before Halloween..  And, horror of horrors, many stores stay open on Thanksgiving Day for shoppers- despite that this is an American holiday, which is a unifying symbol to give thanks.

Now, Black Friday was a term first used in Philadelphia- but it wasn’t describing our shopping habits. It was depicting the heavy vehicular and pedestrian traffic that impeded movement on the day after Thanksgiving.  It took about 14 years for it to have a national audience.   And, once it became widespread in 1975, another definition was added for the term  It was to describe the fictional concept that retailers worked in the red all year long; profits (hence, the “Black”)  began to accrue to their operations from this day forward.

(Interestingly, it was President Franklin Roosevelt who acceded to the requests of retailers in 1939 to move the Thanksgiving celebration yet again.  You see, it was set to fall on the last day of the month.  Which meant fewer Xmas sales days for the businessfolks. What’s a little tradition, when there’s a business interest that is in conflict?)

Moreover, we now have a new event- CyberMonday.   That is the day when Americans use their employer’s computers to complete purchases for Christmas on the first Monday after their Thanksgiving holiday.

And, the most coveted age group that retailers hope to attract this year are the millennials.  (Daniel- take note!)   The good news- it seems that 93% of them will be participating.   (I find that percentage hard to believe, though, since Jews make up 2% and Moslems about another 2% of the population, which would mean nearly every one else is participating in this shopping onslaught. But, then, no one ever accused folks of devoutly practicing their religion.)

Infographic- Millennials plan to participate in Black Friday- big time

 

 

 

By the way- it wasn’t until 2003 that today was, indeed, the biggest shopping day of the year.

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4 thoughts on “Black Friday”

  1. No escaping the hoopla! Even here in Canada, these days. I did not know the original of the term “Black Friday”, and I am sure that I heard it for the first time less than a decade ago. As for the Jews and the Muslims, I attended a high school that was 60% Jewish, and we had a t least 90% participation in the secular part of Christmas. So there were about 50% of the school that got to celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah (lucky kids!)
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