Westminster Patch: History indicates that this time of the year has always been busy by Kevin Dayhoff

History indicates that this time of the year has always been busy.

By Kevin Dayhoff, Saturday, December 7, 2013

http://westminster.patch.com/groups/kevin-e-dayhoffs-blog/p/history-indicates-that-this-time-of-the-year-has-always-been-busy

Let’s briefly revisit Thanksgiving before it fades into a distant memory. The rise of ‘Black Friday’ and the over-commercialization of Christmas in recent years has hastened the gradual disappearance of Thanksgiving.

Many folks can still fondly recall a time not too many years ago when Thanksgiving was still a holiday all to its own and not ‘the day before Black Friday.’

I recently introduced the Thanksgiving holiday, “… as the first day of the winter solstice holiday season. Others know it as the ‘Harvest Festival Bowl,’ and celebrate by gathering together and arguing over football.”

On November 26, 2011, the Scripps Howard News Service said it best when it editorialized, “Thanksgiving (is still) around, but not so you'd notice it. Pilgrims and Indians are being replaced by door busters and rolling sales. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner is less a family feast than an opportunity for carbo loading for the rigors of the morrow's shopping marathon.

“The weekend after Thanksgiving has always been the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but the Christmas ads began right after Halloween with darn little mention of Thanksgiving.

“America's hypercompetitive retailers began hyping their Black Friday sales, and America's hypercompetitive shoppers responded. Stores began opening earlier; for a few brief years, 4 a.m. Friday was the tacitly agreed-upon opening time. But then some stores moved it back to midnight, others followed and now some are opening at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve...”

Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday in Carroll County. Of course, most Carroll countians are a fan of any holiday in which food is involved, especially turkey… Read more: http://westminster.patch.com/groups/kevin-e-dayhoffs-blog/p/history-indicates-that-this-time-of-the-year-has-always-been-busy

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2013/12/westminster-patch-history-indicates.html
*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com