Editor’s note: This comes to us from Hemmings account executive Bradford Kosich.
Black Friday, the largest retail shopping day of the year; it’s almost become a holiday in itself. Family members excuse themselves early from the Thanksgiving dinner table, so they can get up at the crack of dawn to wait in line at their local “Big Box” store, all in the name of saving money. That’s always been a conundrum to us: How, exactly, does one save money by spending it?
That got us thinking: When, exactly, did Black Friday start? Where did it come from? We began our research, and being with Hemmings, hoped somehow it would be automobile-related. We were was not disappointed: Our (admittedly limited) research revealed that Black Friday was a term that first started being uttered from the lips of frustrated Philadelphia drivers in the early 1960s. On the Friday after Thanksgiving the streets of Philadelphia became a traffic nightmare as people in their tailfin-bedecked Chevrolets and Buicks clogged the streets, all rushing to go nowhere fast, just to get a jump on holiday shopping. Thus perfectly named, Black Friday slowly passed out of Philadelphia parlance to became part of the modern American lexicon in the mid 70’s.
If you’re anything like us, the last place you want to be on a day off is shopping. Unless of course, it’s from home and related to automobiles, which is why we created the Hemmings Holiday Gift Guide. It’s a one-stop shop where you can find the perfect gift for the Classic Car hobbyist in your family, or even the perfect gift for yourself. From tools to lifts, from art to custom candy tins, our hand-selected collection of gift ideas even includes something for the person that has it all: a classic coin-operated ride-on horse like the one in front of that 1960s Philadelphia department store. Isn’t that where all of this began?
Visit Hemmings.com/offers to view the complete 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.
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