FROM BLACK FRIDAY TO GIVING TUESDAY: THANKSGIVING, AND COMMERCE
There have always been links between seasonal changes and commerce. Early human groups traveled across different places at different times in the year and found different things available for both consuming and trading. In the ancient world, spring meant hunting and trading for more plants and seeds, and going to where the herds of animals and schools of fish were plentiful in order to get more. Autumn meant increased hunting, trading, gathering and traveling to harvest plants and to get supplies and shelter for winter. Most hunting-gathering people already saw religious and mythological links between changes in seasons and their lives, so the special importance of different products at different times became natural. The original autumnal “thanksgivings” were literally the “giving of “Thanks” to the gods for a good harvest and/or hunt, and also a hope for surviving the winter.
As cities and the lifestyle known as civilization developed, more extensive trading and conquering happened, and many more things became available. New products came from different parts of the world, and the having of lots of products became associated with everything from class level to social wealth to religious worth to personal worth, to political power and more. . Civilizations keep producing and developing more products at an ever-increasing rate. And when civilizations developed into empires, the importance of having, trading, giving, and owning products exploded exponentially. Commerce became more and more of a driving force in cultures.
Over time we have developed systems for coming up with new products to keep the commerce flowing: Research and Development, planned obsolescence, and upgrades. We have come up with more ways of putting products in front of people-signs, advertising campaigns, product placement, pop-up ads embedded in websites, celebrity endorsements, and more. The bazaars and marketplaces of the old days have been replaced by shopping malls, warehouse outlets and now online giants such as Amazon and E-Bay. And there is no end in sight.
After the 1924 debut of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, this post-Thanksgiving weekend quickly became the start of our “winter shopping season.” The gift-giving associated with the Christmas story became more and more the focus of Christmas, and the Friday after Thanksgiving was the time to get it started. Stores and shops ran special sales and campaigns to get people into the stores and opening up the wallets and pocketbooks.
The term for that time is, of course, “Black Friday”, and the origin of that term has a dark side to it. In the 1950s, police in Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving. Hordes of shoppers and tourists flooded into the city to take advantage of the sales and in advance of the big Army-Navy football game that used to be held here every year on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Suburbs were relatively new and expanding, and the new highways and freeways made it easier for suburbanites to get into the city to shop as well as go to sporting events. Philly cops had to work extra-long shifts dealing with the increasing mess of huge crowds and miles of traffic problems. Shoplifters also took advantage of the bedlam in stores to make off with merchandise, and pickpockets endlessly worked the crowds. To police, then, the Friday after Thanksgiving was not joyous at all. Instead, it was “black.”
By 1961, “Black Friday” had become the local term for that day in Philadelphia. Retailers tried unsuccessfully to change it to “Big Friday” in order to remove the negative connotations of the term, but that term didn’t take off. “Black Friday” was what it was called, and Black Friday it remained. So retailers did the next best thing: they changed the meaning and explanation for the term. They turned it into a story about businesses on that day suddenly making a profit-going into the black. This new story of what Black Friday meant caught on, and the term’s true origin was forgotten. Not only did the phrase catch on across the nation. And what was originally a one-day event slowly morphed into a four-day event that spawned other “retail holidays” such as Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday” came into being in 2005 as an idea to encourage people to shop online and build this new thing known as online businesses. With the amount of online shopping increasing over time and really jumping due to COVID, it is estimated that Cyber Monday this year will bring in some 13 billion dollars.
Clearly this seasonal urge to spend is quite powerful in our culture. It even applies to charities and non-profits. A 2012 survey found the some 50% of charities and non-profits reported that most of their individual contributions came in between October and December. The ideas of holiday gifting, seasonal calls for thinking of others, and tax deductions combined to drive more charitable fundraising these last two months of the year and has resulted in “Giving Tuesday.”. Giving Tuesday is a day for making donations to fund good causes following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The founders wanted people to focus on giving after their weekend shopping spree, and to see a seamless link between spending for family and self and giving to help others. The idea quickly took off, and it is now an international movement. It even has its own website- https://www.givingtuesday.org/about which serves as a conduit connecting groups, causes, organizations and individuals. The website has history, tools to get organized, and connections to local movements from around the world. Given the widespread challenges presented by the COVID pandemic, support for charitable institutions is even more critical. Giving Tuesday is one way of making that support possible.
So the “Black Friday” phenomenon can, and in many ways, has definitely overwhelmed the intended sense of the original autumnal thanksgivings. It can be about things and about consumption above all else. But it can lead to the simple joys of family get-togethers, especially in the wake of COVID these last few years. And it can also lead to a “Giving Tuesday” if we allow ourselves to get beyond the products and onto to something more meaningful. We can find another way to extend the notion of gratitude by giving back and giving to. I hope more of us can move to that this year. If you are so moved, please go to:
ADDRESS CORRECTION: Fundraisers for Johnny Never & John Colgan-Davis Trip to the IBC in January
We will have two fundraisers to help send Johnny and John to Memphis for the 2024 IBC One is at Jamey's House of Music in Lansdowne on Sunday, December 10, and the other one, put on by our sponsor, the Central Delaware Blues Society, is on January 7 at “Delaware Veterans Post #2” 129 Pear Street in Dover, DE. Each will feature live music provided by some of the region's best blues artists including Roger Girke, Jimmy Pritchard, Harmonica Slim, and more. Info, dates, times, raffles and details about the fundraisers is here: https://johnnynever.com/international-blues-challenge-memphis-tn
DUKES GIGS; www.dukesofdestiny.com
(The Dukes are starting to book 2024 gigs, so we will of course have more dates coming up., SO stay tuned. And if you know of a place, party, event, or affair that could use a bit of Dukes Magic, please let them know about us and us about them. Thanks)
Friday, December 29; The Mermaid Inn; Germantown Ave and Mermaid Lane; $20; 8-11 PM; 215-247-9797 www.themermaidinn.net
Thanks to all of you folks who came out to my birthday party last Saturday. We had a ball and are happy to end the year at our home away from home once more. Great bartenders, wonderful crowd, and dancing, dancing, dancing. Come on out and get ready for the end of the year with a blues bash!
Friday, June 28; World Café Live with Johnny Never and John Colgan-Davis Opening Act; 8:30 PM; 3025 Walnut St; Phila. PA; 22 adv. $25 door; 215-222-1400; www.worldcafelive.com
The Johns and The Dukes did this double bill last year at WCL, and it was a wonderful show with a great turnout and a great overview of different types of blues music. So we are doing it again. This place has a great sound system, room to dance, wonderful food and beverages, and a great staff. We are happy to be back, so come on out; early reservations strongly suggested
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