When Did Black Friday Shopping Become Thanksgiving Shopping??

So maybe I'm old school but I am seriously sad that Black Friday shopping has become Thanksgiving shopping.

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that is about thankfulness and being thankful for the things that we have and I feel the mass consumerism of Black Friday is going to ruin one of the most important holidays that we have. 

Of course, you might disagree that Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays but I would challenge you to take a look at the history of Thanksgiving in general.

One thing that has been a big misconception is the idea that turkey was the first Thanksgiving meal as it is not likely that turkey or pie were consumed.  However it is probable that other Thanksgiving favorites were served because they are harvested and grown at that time of the year.  Things like corn and cranberries to be specific.

The history of the first Thanksgiving dates back to September of 1620 when a small group of settlers in search of the new world set out from Plymouth England.  They wanted the freedom and prosperity that they believed only America could give them.

 

The group included 102 different people who were from different various backgrounds.  These individuals gave up everything that they had ever owned and boarded a ship to travel a world away from the only homeland where they had ever lived.  They boarded a ship that they called the Mayflower.

 

It took sixty six days for them to land on Cape Cod.  As they arrived they started planning their colony.  It was a very hard winter and only about half of the people survived as they chose to live on the boat rather than living on the land since their homes were not yet built.  When it came a year later and they were finally harvesting food and knew that they were going to survive they were thankful for all that they had.  The native people had taught them how to plant corn and other crops that would grow in America and they were happy with what they had.

 

This means that basically when you celebrate Thanksgiving you are celebrating being thankful for your life, for your things, and for all that you know.  The mass consumerism of Black Friday should have been kept away from a holiday that is as sacred as that.

 

Now I am all for great Black Friday deals and I love to go Black Friday shopping.  I didn't even complain when sales started happening at midnight on Friday instead of at 6 am as they used to be but I think that 8 pm on Thanksgiving is a bit early and it honestly keeps me from being able to enjoy my holiday with my family.  I would love to know what you guys think and if you are going out shopping early or waiting until Friday.  I am interested to check out the paper's versions of the ads tomorrow as I have only read them on the leaked online sites.  I doubt that I am going, I shopped early.  I need gift cards now and that is about all so there isn't really anything that I could get anyways while I was out.