Tis the Season

I have never been much of a shopper. I guess its' a gender thing. The biggest shopping day of the year looms large on the horizon and I just find it annoying. When did this madness start ? It has its' roots in the 1960's.
Black Friday referred to the time when a business went from red ink to black. The name has changed meaning for most of us though. The crowds lined up outside waiting for that one item. It is like a shark feeding frenzy ! We have all heard the stories of people being injured and in at least one case killed. Crazy.
I hear that now some of this is shifting to the internet. You can buy the sale items online and avoid the life threatening crowds. Sounds good to me.
Although I was young it all makes me nostalgic for earlier times. Back in the days when we had Thanksgiving and Santa Claus made his first appearance at the Macys' Thanksgiving Day parade. His appearance signaled the start of the holiday season. Most returned to work on Friday. If you went to the stores early you would see the employees putting up the Christmas decorations and holiday music could be heard. Christmas sales would be advertised. You could feel the season in the air. It was a wonderful life. There was a miracle on 34th street. Charlie Brown got his tree. Burl Ives narrated Rudolf.
Having grown up in a rural area most of the shopping was done with the Sears catalogue or J C Penny.
Smaller gifts were purchased uptown at the jewelery store,5&10 or clothing stores. Well they say you can't go back and that is true but I sure wish we could. I wish my Grandchildren could experience the Holiday the way I did. I'm sure they will say the same thing when they have children of their own.