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Back in the Day: Holiday Shopping

12/2/2010

21 Comments

 
The date: Friday, November 26th
The time: 4 a.m.

Where was I? Not in bed, dreaming of the wonderful time I'd had at Thanksgiving. I was in my car, driving along an empty highway toward the mall so I could shop, shop, SHOP! That’s right. I'm one of those crazy people who got up way too early in search of red-hot deals.

As I was driving along the dark, empty road I thought back to the holiday shopping of yesteryear. Things weren't always so nuts, you know. Or maybe you don't know. That’s why I bring you…

BACK IN THE DAY
Holiday Shopping: Deck the Malls with Boughs of Holly, fa la la la…aw, fudge.

As always, things were a bit different when I was young. First of all, we didn’t have the deluge of kiddie commercials we do now. The Disney Channel? Nickelodeon? They didn’t exist. Children’s programming consisted of a few hours each weekday on PBS (no commercials) and Saturday morning cartoons on the ‘Big Three’ networks: ABC, CBS and NBC (commercials!) If you were a kid, your Saturday morning was booked, not with soccer games or Tae Kwon Do practice, but watching cartoons. That’s when we learned about cool stuff like Rock’em Sock’em Robots and Hippity Hops. When Christmas time rolled around, the retail industry took it up a notch. That’s when the Sears Wish Book came out.

cue the singing angels….
Picture
Behold the Magic!
That’s right. Back in the Seventies, many purchases were still made through catalogs. Twice a year, Sears and J.C. Penney came out with big, thick ones stuffed with everything -- clothes, bedding, socket wrenches, you name it. Right after Thanksgiving the Wish Book appeared in all its glory. The back of it was filled with pages and pages of toys. I still remember spending hours pouring over it while making my wish list to Santa. Barbie’s Country Camper, come to mama!

Of course, there were regular retail stores, too. I grew up in a town about an hour outside of Chicago. In the early Seventies we didn’t have much, just a down town with a grocery store, furniture store, five and dime, shoe store, clothing store, etc. Our first big box mart didn’t come until later in the decade with the introduction of Kmart, home of the blue light special. As for toy stores, the Toys ‘R Us (known back then by the classy name ‘Bargain Town’) was so far away we never seemed to be able to make the trip (At least that’s what Mom and Dad said. Hmmm....)
Picture
Still thinking about that Country Camper...
During the holidays, our best bet was the local Ace Hardware. It always cleared some aisles in the back to make room for all the neat Christmas toys. Then, of course, there was the mall…

Ah, yes -- the mall. In 1973, one opened up ten minutes from our house and our shopping lives were transformed. So many stores in just one place! It was open on Sundays, too, something local businesses had never done. That was the place to shop, particularly during the holidays, and Black Friday was the coolest day. Why?
 
S
tores didn’t open early and there weren’t any bust-down-the door deals, but something fantastical did occur. On that day, every store -- including the mall itself --  unveiled their Christmas decorations. That’s right, no holiday decor until AFTER Thanksgiving.  The whole world instantly transformed into a holiday wonderland. Store hours were extended, too. Many stores, including those in the mall, stayed open until 9 p.m. instead of the regular 5 p.m. We could shop whenever we wanted.

Whoa.

Like most girls, as I got older shopping became one of my favorite pastimes, holiday season or not. My dad would slip me five dollars, maybe twenty if I needed a new pair of shoes, then drop me off at the door with my friends. We’d walk around, hit the record store, and check out clothes at the Limited Express and Benneton. Sound kind of familiar?  

Despite all the killer deals we have these days, holiday shopping just doesn’t seem to be as fun as it used to be. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom shopping for twenty people instead of a kid shopping for four, or maybe it’s because stores keep pushing the holiday season further and further forward each year. The ads alone are daunting. Whatever the reason, I get a little sadder each year. A little more jaded, too....

Dang! Am I starting to sound depressed. I think I need a little ‘retail therapy’ to perk me back up. Anyone want to go to Kohl’s with me? They’re having a big sale and I have a 30% coupon.

Anyone?  ….. Anyone?

21 Comments
nothingprofound link
12/2/2010 03:48:22 am

When I was a kid, the Christmas season lasted five, maybe ten days, at most. All the Christmas movies and shows were on the week of Christmas, and the ads were pretty sparse. TV was still in its infancy, and the vast commercialization hadn't yet begun. But it didn't take long. The first outcry I heard about the vulgarization of Christmas was in Ferlinghetti's "Coney Island Of The Mind." His poem entitled, "Christ Climbed Down." Definitely, a portent of things to come.

Reply
Mom link
12/2/2010 03:53:34 am

Nothingprofound,
Ten days?! Whoa. Television commercials did seem to play a huge role in the over-commercialization of Christmas. It's so much more about gifts now. I'll have to check out the poem. Sounds interesting.

Reply
Tershbango link
12/2/2010 04:52:31 am

I think 10 days sounds just about perfect. This crap of holiday merriment from October until Valentine's Day makes me want to poke my commercially assaulted eyes out! :)

Reply
timethief link
12/2/2010 05:36:57 am

Nothingprofound and I are from the same generation. 10 days was enough advertsising and hype. What's happening now is insane IMO.

Reply
Mom link
12/2/2010 05:49:13 am

Tershbango and timethief,
I think everyone would agree things are just way over the top now. Twenty years from now I wonder if we'll even take the decorations down anymore. So sad. The longer the season is extended, the more it's diluted. Personally, I'd be happy if it was just from Thanksgiving on.

Reply
Photodiction link
12/2/2010 07:39:48 am

Gosh - so many memories brought back by this post. I remember catalog shopping, the first mall opening up close by, the joy of Christmas carols... now we are unindated. I was in SC for a brief holiday and stopped into a store. Nov 11 and they were playing Christmas carols over the sound system.

Anyway - I enjoyed this entry and the memories you brought back. Thanks

Reply
Mom link
12/2/2010 07:44:41 am

Photodiction,
Christmas carols! I was just discussing them with some friends today. Boy, did we have fun as kids when we went caroling. How I wish that tradition could be resurrected. As for Christmas carols on November 11th? I wanna hurl.

Reply
Juliana link
12/2/2010 06:37:24 pm

I come from a family where Christmas starts the weekend before the actual day. So I don't decorate my house until the weekend before Christmas - this year is the earliest it ever gets as the tree will be going up on the 18th!
I resolutely refuse to buy into the commercialism of it all and whilst I do buy and exchange gifts, I make an awful lot of them myself. So for the last week I have been busy baking glorious cakes, pickling pears, brewing Xmas chutneys, steaming puddings etc. I then make up little hampers and decorate everything with glorious ribbons and sparkles.
Of course, when my sons were younger I did the usual stuff and bought toys - usually one large item each such as a bike, and then a stocking with little bits. Now I make them a box of home-made chocolates and give them some cash.
I find it so sad when I see so many people frazzled and spending money they don't have because they feel so much pressure to 'buy into' the commercialism of it all. Shame on those media people.

So No dear lady, I don't want to come shopping with you - but I will offer you a spiced latte and a chunk of Christmas cake to revive you - and we can sing a carol or too as well!
Smiles and blessings

Reply
Mom link
12/2/2010 08:57:35 pm

Juliana,
Wow! It's cool that you make presents yourself. If only I could make an Xbox! ;) We start decorating right after Thanksgiving. We really do it up in the house and it takes a while, so I like to see the efforts of my results for as long as I can. Gotta say, though, what a PAIN when I have to take it all down!

I will definitely take the cake and latte and am excited to have a caroling buddy, too!

Reply
Hank link
12/3/2010 04:54:40 am

My first retail memory at Christmas was when I worked at Lionel Kiddie City, yes I too am old.

Was my first job, and first time working retail during the holidays.

We spent 3 hours setting shelves for a display of Cabbage Patch dolls. Another 2 hours unpacking and stocking.

The store opened at 5am(nutty early back then) and there was a mass of humanity running towards the display, which was in the rear of the store.

20 minutes, 20 minutes later there was one doll left, packaging beaten and torn up, laying on the floor in front of the now empty display.

What to my astonished eyes arose? 2 women running up the aisle as if there was a fire towards the doll. One in the lead started to bend down, when the other dove...dove onto the floor to snatch the doll away.

A small wrestling match ensued, we all enjoyed it.

Never will I forgot that day, and never will I go shopping on black Friday either !

Reply
Mom link
12/3/2010 07:41:17 am

Hank,
Now that's what I'm talking about. GREAT story. Nothing like two women going head to head over a doll!
Thanks!

Reply
Katja
12/5/2010 12:15:46 pm

I definitely think I was born in the wrong generation...
I absolutely abhor the commercialism of Christmas; it leaves an uncomfortable chaotic atmosphere in my home. Especially since my birthday is less than a month before Christmas.

Reply
Mom link
12/5/2010 10:26:05 pm

Katja,
Argh! The dreaded birthday close to Christmas! That's got to be hard. And you're right -- the commercialism, the chaos. It's too much. The only people who might disagree are the retailers, not the poor employees, but the ones who own the stores. Man, those poor employees. I thought I had it bad.

Reply
The redhead link
12/10/2010 08:28:12 am

Oh how I loved my Barbie camper. It was the 80s/90s version though. So it was all pink and very Southwestern-ish. It was the dang Barbie Ice Cream Parlor that always eluded me on Christmas morning though. I asked Santa for it almost 3 Christmases in a row. But never got it. And then I stopped believing in magic.

Reply
Mom link
12/10/2010 10:52:16 am

Readhead,
Now that's just sad. Barbie broke more hearts than just Ken's, huh? And that Barbie had EVERYTHING, too -- and it wasn't cheap!! sigh. I feel your pain.

Reply
Luke @ WellJourn link
12/27/2010 03:17:11 am

Lol, I had no idea magic 8 balls were that old.

Reply
Mom link
12/27/2010 09:04:59 am

Luke,
Niether did I! It's amazing how old some of the classics are -- and they're still around, too!

Reply
Air Jordan 1 link
1/26/2011 09:34:12 am

If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions. Do you think so?

Reply
Mom link
1/26/2011 11:43:58 am

Air Jordan 1,

Personally, I think there are PLENTY of stupid questions out there. One time a guy asked me, "Are you really that tall?" He was standing right in front of me. When I replied, "No, I'm not." he just gave me a blank stare.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Reply
Justus Steel link
2/12/2011 01:39:03 am

Awesome thing number 1: I totally couldn't agree more with everything you said. Even awesomer thing number 2: I was bsing on stumbleupon, and I stumbled onto this blog of yours yay! It works. :)

Reply
Mom link
2/13/2011 08:18:15 am

Justus,
Woo hoo! I'm grinning from ear to ear.

Reply



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