Thanksgiving and Commerce

 

DUKES FANS:

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 The bazaars and marketplaces of the old days have been replaced by shopping malls, warehouse outlets and now online giants such as Amazon and E-Bay.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: 

\https://www.givingtuesday.org/about 

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 

Bumper Stickers Continued

DUKES FANS:       

"This car climbed Mt. Airy” ;Bumper sticker seen on many cars in Mt Airy.   

More on Bumper Stickers: 

My last newsletter looked at several bumper stickers that have caught my eye over the years. Mt. Airy is a great place to live if you like reading stickers because it is full of politically involved people of different ages and musicians, artists, and thinkers who have always been known to speak and show their minds and/or their humor. I quoted from some of them and asked you to send me your favorite stickers that you have seen or used over the years. A number of you did just that, and I thank you. 

 Some of the ones sent in came from males who remembered their younger days as drivers. One of the respondents talked about their first car-an old Rambler (remember them?) It was somewhat multi-colored and had a stick shift. And it bore a sticker which read; “Don’t laugh-your daughter could be in this car.” In a similar vein, another male sent in a sticker he had used in his 20’s that said, “This is the car I use until I know if I like my date enough to use my good car.”  

There were also items sent in that contained some philosophical thoughts. “Love is the hardest lesson, is a quote attributed to William Penn, I find that to be a true statement in my own life; I have to regularly re-learn that lesson. Another one reads, “Our duty and job is to act as if we believe that what we do can radically change the world.” That resonates with me as well. A friend, who is both a chaplain and a student of Jewish tradition, relates that she heard that bumper stickers with opposing ideas were like a Talmudic discussion in which rabbis compared and debated different interpretations of scripture and ideals." Both sides,” she said, "need to be heard and seen.” 

Of course, there were also humorous ones: “I have nothing worth saying on this sticker.” And,“Did you ever stop to think and forget to start again?” Also," My thoughts are far too important to be reduced to some silly bumper sticker.” Great thoughts, indeed.  

Thanks to all of you who sent things in. If you want to follow this from last week’s newsletter, you can find the start of this discussion in the “John's Blog” tab on the Dukes’ website. Know that I am still looking at bumper stickers, and I will let you know of any interesting ones I continue to come across. 

DUKES GIGS: www.dukesofdestiny.com    

Saturday November 18; John’s 73rd B’day at The Mermaid Inn; everyone gets a slice of Night Kitchen cake; Germantown Ave and Mermaid Ln; 8-11PM $20 www.themermaidinn.net     

This has been a tradition for several decades now; John celebrates the week of his birthday with a Saturday gig at The Maid. This is our home away from home; great vibes, dancing folks, good brews, and fun, fun, fun. Covid vaccination is strongly suggested but not mandated If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, by all means do. Come on out and wish the old man a Happy Birthday, enjoy great cake, and dance the night away.  (It would be super-great if we could get a couple of people to help slice the cakes and give them out. If you are interested, please get back to me) 

 

Johnny Never-John Colgan-Davis: acoustic blues duo: Winners of the IBC Central DE Competition: https://johnnynever.com/schedule       

Friday, November 17; Spirits 1675 Distillery:2685 Bristol Pike, Eddington, PA:6-9PM  (215) 645-1445           

We are back at 1675 for another night of great blues in a friendly spot with oak barrels for some tables and a great variety of whiskey, wine and ales, Food trucks regularly appear providing some delicious fare.    
  

The Sunday Blues Jam; Jamey’s House of Music;  32 S. Lansdowne Ave; Lansdowne, PA:215-477-9895; House band from 12-1PM-open jam from 1-3:00 pm. No cover-$5 minimum food and/or drink    

  Blues lovers and players have made Jamey's Sunday Blues Jam the place for great blues jamming, really good and inexpensive eats, ales on tap, fresh ground coffee and espresso, and friendly people who love the blues.  Each Sunday features an hour long set by a house band, and then an open jam until 3PM. Most Sundays the Philly Blues Kings, featuring guitar and keyboard ace Dave Reiter, do the 1-hour set, followed by a 2 hour jam. Once a month The Roger Girke-John Colgan-Davis does the house band set.  Got an instrument? Sing? Just want to listen to some exciting blues while enjoying some good food and good brews? Come on out and experience this great blues jam with Asian-inspired food and wonderful brews.

 

Bumper Sticker WIsdom

 

"I hate cars with a lot of bumper stickers”      Bumper sticker seen in West Mt Airy.  

I have always loved bumper stickers. I have seen a lot of clever ones, a lot of silly ones, a lot of ones that have me shaking my head, and some that have me pausing to think about the message. But I rarely can go by one without looking at it. There are a number that are humorous: “My other car is a Rolls Royce.” “I love my Granddogs” “Why are you wasting your time reading this?” Some are just advertising, of course, but some of them can go beyond that. There is a one on a car belonging to someone who works at WXPN that simply says, "Music Helps.” I can think of no truer statement.  

   There are others in my neighborhood that express social political feelings that I truly believe in. My favorite one simply says, “Humankind. Be Both.” That is one of my constant goals in my daily life, and sometimes, when I am upset or angry, seeing that sticker can remind me of that. Another of my favorites says, “Love thy neighbor. Even if they don’t vote, think, or love like you.” Another one that appeals to both John the politico and John the history teacher says, “If you didn’t vote, then don’t complain.” I concur heartily.  

   People who know me know that I am a Quaker and that I tend to differ from the mainstream in a lot of ways. In my high school days in the 1960’s, a lot of us wore pins and buttons that proclaimed our belief in equality, our opposition to the Vietnam war, and our love of particular philosophers, political figures and ideas. At one point our school tried to ban the wearing of pins, but students kept wearing them. So the school gave up. This was a time when what you wore said a lot about what you believed and thought, and a lot of us obviously wanted to challenge the norms. This is not quite as widespread now as it was then, but denim, long hair, dungaree jackets, Afros and long hair went a long way to proclaiming yourself aligned with the radical and/or hippie lifestyle. It marked a dramatic change in US values, and it has had lasting effects on the culture.  

   Buttons, pins and bumper stickers are still ways we can proclaim what we believe in, and I am glad that folks are still doing that. There are other folks who disagree with much of what I believe in, of course, and they have their stickers also. A peaceful war of stickers is, to me, much better than the too-often violent disagreements that can break out at marches and protests or simply driving down the street. Someone reading or being read rather than engaged in a shouting match may have a better chance of getting through.   

   I would be interested in knowing what bumper stickers you see that appeal to your interests and/or beliefs. If you would, please send some of them to me. I am curious to see what strikes your eyes, and if I get a bunch, I will re-print them in a future newsletter. Looking forward to it. Thanks! 

Spring Forward; Fall Back

DUKES FANS:    

“Spring forward: Fall back” ( Mnemonic device for remembering setting your clocks for Daylight Saving Time) 

This Sunday, November 5, is the official end of Daylight Saving Time. This is a controversial and long-lasting practice in the United States; it has been around for all of my nearly three-quarters-of-a-century on the planet. In grade school we memorized the saying that opens this newsletter to make sure we knew what to do so we wouldn’t be caught short. I remember making fun of and laughing at people who forgot to change their clocks. They either arrived early at church in the fall or late in the spring. Now, of course, we do not have to worry about that: most watches, computers, and digital clocks Daylight Savings Time built in, and it happens automatically. That brings up the question, of course, of why does Daylight Saving Time exist anyway? Where did it come from?

  The history of Daylight-Saving TIme (DST) is complicated story, and I will only hit some of the highlights here. (Wikipedia has a good and more thorough summary should you want more detail.)  Ben Franklin wrote a (probable) satirical letter to a paper in France in 1784 suggesting adding an hour forward in the summer to save money on candles; they would be used less and would last longer. While that idea did not catch on, New Zealand etymologist George Hudson proposed some form of DST in the 1890’s, wanting an extra hour of daylight to collect and study insects. Englishman William Willet proposed it in 1907 as he saw many Londoners sleeping longer hours during the summer months. He thought DST would fit the pattern of how people were actually living and would make the workday more efficient. Parliament considered but rejected it. But DST really took off during World War I (1914-1918). Germany and Austria-Hungary adopted it as a way of using less coal and saving money for the war effort. Most of Europe followed suit, and it seemed to work. Most of them dropped DST after the war ended. Feeling no need for it. But certain places did adopt it. The US had started tinkering with the idea when the Interstate Commerce Commission-the agency in charge of regulating trade policy for the US–decided that there needed to be standardization of time across the country to make train travel and shipment of goods easier. To that end, they standardized time zones across the country in 1883.  So when WW I happened, the US also went to a national DST in order save coal and other resources. It was abandoned soon after that war, but it was reintroduced in WW II (1944-1945 for the US). After that war, different states either employed it or didn’t. There was a Uniform Time Act in 1966 which standardized DST nationwide. That act was amended and changed several times, though. The oil embargo of the 1970’s re-standardized it for a while. Again, the rationale was to save energy, resources, and money. And it is pretty much standardized now throughout the country. Arizona is the only state in the mainland US that does not recognize DST, Hawaii and several US territories also do not recognize it. Everyplace else in the US does. 

DST is quite controversial. There have been several 

 movements to have it dropped. I, like many people, was raised to think that DST was instituted because it benefited farmers, but it turns out they generally do not like it. Their workdays depend upon what the sun 

 and nature do, not on clocks and hours. We were told that it helped during the oil embargo, but there are some contradictory findings on how much energy and money was actually saved. And some research

suggests that DST is unhealthy for many people- interrupting sleep cycles and affecting digestion and heart health. But it is here for now, and it may be for awhile. Maybe it will still be here when I finally leave the planet. 

   So turn those clocks back on Saturday night 

 before you go to sleep and/or let your digital 

devices do it. Happy November and Happy

 DST.  And ejoy that added hour of sleep. (Daylight saving time in the United States - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_the_United_States)