Now that Thanksgiving has arrived, we will now be into the Christmas season with Black Friday sales and Christmas decorations and music in every store. As tomorrow is “Black Friday” we kick off the Christmas shopping with a vengeance.
Did you know that the day’s name originated in Philadelphia in 1966 when the police department, cab and bus drivers described the Friday after Thanksgiving as a “black” experience because of all the massive traffic jams and overcrowded sidewalks. However, it was not until the 1980s that the phrase “Black Friday” spread across the United States, and the term came to mark the point when stores moved “into the black,” or became profitable. Before the days of online shopping, customers had to head to their favorite shops to see what they could buy and were often met by long early-morning lines, crowds and sometimes even pushing and shoving to get a limited amount of discounted merchandise.
Stores opened in the dark, wee hours of the morning and stayed open through to midnight, and while this still happens today, a great Black Friday deal may now be only one click away. When I left England in 2009, Black Friday was a strictly American phenomenon but in 2010 American-owned retailer Amazon introduced the tradition to the British and now it has been widely adopted by many retailers in the UK, both physical and online. This is all very convenient and modern, but my favorite type of shopping when I return to the UK during the festive season is at the traditional outdoor Christmas markets, especially in Bath – a historic city in the Southwest of England near where I attended university many years ago. I just love the nostalgic experience with the open-air stalls selling gifts, seasonal treats and hot beverages. For once I don’t really mind the cold if I am wrapped up warmly.
Formal December outdoor market’s roots are believed to stretch back to Vienna in 1296, when Duke Albrecht, the ruler of what is now Austria and much more, authorized 14-day fairs during the month of December. In German Bohemia in 1384, King Wencelas gave the city of Bautzen the right to hold a free market allowing butchers to sell meat until Christmas day. Christmas markets eventually spread to German-speaking parts of Italy, Switzerland and France, and gained traction across all of Europe in the 17th and early 18th centuries and became popular places to buy meat, baked goods and commodities. As Christmas markets grew in popularity, governments decided they needed greater regulation. Berlin, for example, in 1750 decreed the exact location of the city’s Christmas market and how long it could remain open (from December 11 to January 6). Increasingly Christmas objects such as toys, Christmas trees, nativity scenes, gingerbread and confectionery were sold at these outdoor stalls. However, during the 19th-century the rise of the department store meant that Christmas markets were relegated to peripheral settings and by the 1920s they were in serious decline. The growing Nazi regime revived the tradition in Germany in the 1930s, reappropriating it as a propaganda symbol of German greatness.
Germany’s Christmas markets wound down during World War II but experienced a resurgence after the conflict’s end, and by the late 1960s and ’70s, markets were opening as early as the last weekend in November.
Today, Germany hosts around 3,000 Christmas markets annually and in recent decades, Christmas markets have proliferated throughout Europe, North America and Asia.
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to enjoy Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, which began in 1996 and is one of the longest-running outdoor Christmas markets in America. I was buying a few gifts, my husband was in search of German sausages, and we both enjoyed cups of warm Gluhwein to keep out the cold. Gluhwein translates as “Glow Wine” and this mulled wine is a popular European tradition combining red wine, honey and spices. For me it is an essential part of the outdoor Christmas market experience! There is a lot more information at www.Britannica.com and www.smithsonianmagazine. com As we gear up for the holidays, I say goodbye this week with a quote from Victorian era English author, Charles Dickens in his seasonal novel A Christmas Carol, “ I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”
God Bless America, Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your Black Friday!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@lesleyfrancispr.com or via her PR and marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com.