FASHION HISTORY LESSON: THE ORIGIN AND ESCALATION OF HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON AND BLACK FRIDAY

From the 1880s to the present, the pursuit of holiday deals has been regarded as an American custom, family tradition, matter of political discussion, and savage ritual all rolled into one.

For some, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are synonymous with deals and a day of shopping; for others, they are synonymous with materialism and crowded stores. Nonetheless, they remain America's most promoted shopping days, promising shoppers once-in-a-lifetime deals and signaling the unofficial start of when it's socially acceptable to spend money in the spirit of St. Nick, and their reputation skyrocketed.

For many years, businesses opened early on Black Friday, offering "doorbuster" prices to attract people to line up before dawn while still digesting Thanksgiving meal. In the late 2000s, businesses began opening as early as 4:00 a.m. to compete for deal-hungry customers, followed by the contentious choice of several retailers to begin their Black Friday shopping extravaganzas at midnight. Following Wal-Mart's opening at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day in 2012, more and more businesses opened their doors as early as 5:00 p.m., prompting some to wonder when the so-called "Christmas Creep" will cease.

As a result, the reaction began. We wondered if anyone still cared about Black Friday in October of 2017, amid growing frustration with the media spectacles of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the "overcommercialization" of the holiday season in general, especially since much of the mayhem and can't-miss deals now extend throughout November and December and have become more prominent online. Even still, we can't help but wonder what sales will be available after Thanksgiving, which got us thinking: how did this madness begin?

THE ORIGINS OF HOLIDAY SHOPPING

hristmas celebrations remained limited and low-key until the holiday was converted into the contemporary gift-giving and tree-decorating spectacle that we know today between 1880 and 1910. This is due in part to growing industrialization and a new middle class with more disposable cash. While shops in Boston advertised the Christmas gift-giving ritual as early as 1808, most of America was ambivalent about the holiday until Clement Clark Moore published "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (better known as "The Night Before Christmas") in 1822.

Until the 1880s, most Christmas gifts in America were handcrafted. After more Americans relocated to big cities in the late 1800s to work in factories and offices, it became more usual to buy and give manufactured products, making the holiday shopping season an integral part of life for those who observed the Christian holiday. Although the practice was still relatively new, by 1900, Americans had come to distrust and despise the holiday's commercialization.

According to the narrative, public relations gurus were able to turn the pandemonium of Black Friday into a "family-day outing" and a chance to embrace the Christmas spirit while shopping. By the 1980s, theories circulated that the phrase was derived from shops going "back in the black," or profiting from Christmas sales, on that Friday.

THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY ASPECTS OF HOLIDAY SHOPPING

While Black Friday sales might help families afford gifts, a darker side to the holiday has emerged in recent years. Of course, the shopping holiday may be quite taxing on store employees, who are sometimes required to work long schedules and forego holiday time with their own families. Crowds of frantic consumers, according to reports, are quick to push past paramedics and law officers, possibly suffering from a temporary state of insanity after hours and hours of waiting in line to secure a discount on a wanted item.

Regarding the future of this holiday, while it's tough to imagine Black Friday disappearing totally, it's probable that merchants will continue to change the ways they organize and offer their holiday bargains in today's quickly changing buying landscape.