Dear Americans,
We have a problem. Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. But retailers can't make very much money off of it, can they? Not unless they sell food or decorations. So they have a nifty solution- make Christmas bigger. Ooh yes, they can make a lot of money off of Christmas shoppers. How do they make Christmas bigger?
Well.
Let's look at the history of Thanksgiving. It used to be on the last Thursday in Novemeber, did you know that? Always the last one, even if November had 5 Thursdays. And now it's on the 4th Thursday, which is sometimes the last Thursday but not always. When did that change? According to Congress, Dec 26, 1941.
But FDR started observing Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in 1939. Yup, during the Great Depression. Thanksgiving was on the last day of November that year, according to the "last Thursday" tradition. Retailers were afraid of losing money during the Christmas season because shoppers had fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And most people, at that time, didn't do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving.
Okay, so they moved Thanksgiving. Big deal, that was 72 years ago! Why am I writing a blog post?
Because, my friends, Thanksgiving is being completely disrespected. By retailers. Again. (Well, I don't have a problem with them having moved it. Especially cuz it was the Great Depression. But saying "again" just makes my point sound better)
WHY are stores open for Black FRIDAY shopping on THURSDAY night?? And after doing a little research, it's not just Thursday night.
It looks like Lowe's opened at 4am on Thanksgiving morning. Kmart wasn't much better- 6am. A few other stores opened Thursday morning as well.
I understand why. Retailers are increasing profits this way. But what happens when stores start opening at midnight Thanksgiving morning? At 8pm Wednesday night? When will it stop??
Just because I understand why they do it doesn't mean I think they should.
This whole phenomenon is totally disrespectful of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too, if you think about it). Whatever happened to a day of giving thanks and eating way too much food and spending time with family? It's quickly turning into a major shopping day. And when you picture Black Friday shoppers, you picture loud, rude, selfish people who will do anything to get the "best price" on some materialistic thing. They're not spending quality time with their families. They're not being very thankful.
I have never been Black Friday shopping. But I've worked on Black Friday, twice now. I'm lucky to have my job, and not work at Walmart or something. We opened at 8am Friday morning (we usually open at 9am). It was awesome.
See, I work at this company called Hobby Lobby. We are closed on Sundays. Our CEO runs the company based on Christian values. We don't open at ridiculous hours just to make a little more money.
Be thankful, people. Spend time being thankful. And AFTER you spend a day being thankful, THEN you may go shop. Gratitude makes you happier. I promise.
<3 Marie-Rose
We have a problem. Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. But retailers can't make very much money off of it, can they? Not unless they sell food or decorations. So they have a nifty solution- make Christmas bigger. Ooh yes, they can make a lot of money off of Christmas shoppers. How do they make Christmas bigger?
Well.
Let's look at the history of Thanksgiving. It used to be on the last Thursday in Novemeber, did you know that? Always the last one, even if November had 5 Thursdays. And now it's on the 4th Thursday, which is sometimes the last Thursday but not always. When did that change? According to Congress, Dec 26, 1941.
 |
| Image source |
But FDR started observing Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in 1939. Yup, during the Great Depression. Thanksgiving was on the last day of November that year, according to the "last Thursday" tradition. Retailers were afraid of losing money during the Christmas season because shoppers had fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And most people, at that time, didn't do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving.
Okay, so they moved Thanksgiving. Big deal, that was 72 years ago! Why am I writing a blog post?
Because, my friends, Thanksgiving is being completely disrespected. By retailers. Again. (Well, I don't have a problem with them having moved it. Especially cuz it was the Great Depression. But saying "again" just makes my point sound better)
WHY are stores open for Black FRIDAY shopping on THURSDAY night?? And after doing a little research, it's not just Thursday night.
It looks like Lowe's opened at 4am on Thanksgiving morning. Kmart wasn't much better- 6am. A few other stores opened Thursday morning as well.
I understand why. Retailers are increasing profits this way. But what happens when stores start opening at midnight Thanksgiving morning? At 8pm Wednesday night? When will it stop??
Just because I understand why they do it doesn't mean I think they should.
This whole phenomenon is totally disrespectful of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too, if you think about it). Whatever happened to a day of giving thanks and eating way too much food and spending time with family? It's quickly turning into a major shopping day. And when you picture Black Friday shoppers, you picture loud, rude, selfish people who will do anything to get the "best price" on some materialistic thing. They're not spending quality time with their families. They're not being very thankful.
I have never been Black Friday shopping. But I've worked on Black Friday, twice now. I'm lucky to have my job, and not work at Walmart or something. We opened at 8am Friday morning (we usually open at 9am). It was awesome.
See, I work at this company called Hobby Lobby. We are closed on Sundays. Our CEO runs the company based on Christian values. We don't open at ridiculous hours just to make a little more money.
So guess what, big greedy companies? It's possible to be less greedy and still make money.
Be thankful, people. Spend time being thankful. And AFTER you spend a day being thankful, THEN you may go shop. Gratitude makes you happier. I promise.
 |
| I apologize for not knowing the image source on this one. |
<3 Marie-Rose
Great point! I really enjoyed learning about the history of Black Friday. I completely agree-- Black Friday should stay on Friday. :) Thank you for sharing this! Great post!
ReplyDelete