Black Friday

In November 1621, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast after the Pilgrims' first corn harvest proved successful. This is now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”. For more than two centuries the events were celebrated by independent colonies across various dates. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of Civil War, that president Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a national day to be held every November. Because of the close proximity with Christmas and the shopping season, the day after Thanksgiving became the heaven to both retailers and shoppers alike. But has the influence of this day gone too far?

In the 1950s and '60s the term and idea behind Black Friday (the name itself came from the idea that this is the first time that retailers make annual profit or are 'in the black') became more popular - it became the linchpin and kickoff to holiday shopping. For many years retailers opened stores at 6:00 a.m. on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This tradition was held but times crept earlier and earlier to 5:00 and even 4:00. For the first time ever, several large retailers opened at midnight Friday in 2011, and in 2012, Walmart and several others announced they were opening at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. At this point hasn't Black Friday gone too far? Hasn't the desire of shoppers to get a couple hours head start on shopping and of retailers to make their money a little bit earlier crept too far? Are we starting to lose the holiday? If this wasn't enough, this year, Kmart stores opened at 6:00 a.m., Old Navy stores opened 3 hours later at 9:00, and a large majority of retailers opened for business at 8:00 p.m - all on Thanksgiving Day. Not only this, retailers announced pre-Black Friday sales this year, and these promotional sales have served to inflate the hype. So has Thanksgiving just become a Black Friday warm-up?

These events have obviously not gone unnoticed, and there is opposition and support of both sides. In 2011, more than 200,000 people signed a petition on Change.org called “Tell Target to Save Thanksgiving". A Facebook Page called “Say No To Shopping on Thanksgiving” has more than 58,000 'likes'. For many, Black Friday is a fun, if not at least adrenaline-inducing, event - but opening on Thanksgiving is just ridiculous. Thanksgiving was meant to be a day for thanks and gratefulness, but it has turned into the day where we eat turkey so we're full and ready to shop later in the night. Thanksgiving was supposed to be a day of giving gratitude and has turned into a warm-up for the shopping season.