Ain't No Black Fridays Like 90's Black Fridays

The Friday after Thanksgiving is the perfect day to spend in your pj’s listening to Christmas music and putting up the tree. I guess you could get up pre-dawn and chase down some bargains, but who really does that anymore? According to the online publication RetailBoss, not as many people as you think. In fact the data from Drive Research says 2.5x more people this year will shop online for Black Friday deals than those shopping in person. 

I remember the good old days of Black Friday. Okay, not the 1960’s in Philadelphia when thousands descended on the city to shop before the Army Navy Game and every police officer had to work just to manage the traffic and the crowds.  The officers called it Black Friday because they dreaded it so much. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that retailers embraced the term and created the narrative about retailers being in the black with the post Thanksgiving sales. (You’re welcome for the history lesson).  

The real Black Friday heyday was the 90”s baby! That's when big box retailers like Target and Walmart were trying to out crazy each other with crazy deals. I remember sitting around the dining room table at my in-laws anxiously waiting for the Sunday paper the week before Thanksgiving (we were too poor to afford the paper). We would pour over page after page of color ads looking for the holy grail of Christmas gifts at bargain prices.  Gems like, the CD player boombox with cassette or the 13 inch TV with built in VCR player. Who could forget the bread maker craze? Of course all of those big ticket items were well out of my price range as a dirt poor newlywed. I was looking for bargains on toys for the kids like Sky Dancers, Furbies, or the Fisher-Price dollhouse. I only remember actually braving the early morning hours one time and I don't even remember what we were looking for. 

That's the crazy thing about being crazy about things. They're only the hot item for a hot second. Most of those Black Friday bargains are now in landfills or long forgotten, hidden from view in the basement or garage. I hope the lucky recipients of those toys, electronics, home appliances and various other bargains appreciated the effort that went into getting them.  We are probably better off now that we can cyber shop for bargains in the luxury of our comfy pants. 

We did love that Fisher-Price dollhouse though. We played with it until it fell apart. I don't remember if we bought it for a bargain or not, but I'd give anything to go back and watch them open it again. So whether you are going out or staying in to hunt for bargains, Merry Christmas and happy shopping!