Clearance!

Another sign that Christmas is over is the post-Christmas sale, and the resulting traffic at the malls.

"Buying something on sale is a very special feeling. In fact, the less I pay for something, the more it is worth to me. I have a dress that I paid so little for that I am afraid to wear it. I could spill something on it, and then how would I replace it for that amount of money?"
~Rita Rudner

President's Day—not!

Today is President's Day, a U.S. federal holiday that celebrates all of our country's presidents. Or so I thought.

In researching the holiday's history, I came across some enlightening information on Snopes.com. This is really, officially, the "George Washington's Birthday" holiday, just like when I was in grammar school when we used to get a day off for both his birthday on February 22 and Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12. We're supposed to be celebrating George's birthday. Not all the presidents.

It turns out that the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 officially set the third Monday of February as the day to celebrate George's birthday. This means that federal workers (and students) always get a 3-day weekend—but it also means that George's birthday is never actually celebrated on his birthday, because the third Monday can never fall later in the month than the 21st. And most of the states dropped Lincoln's birthday, because the bill also established Columbus Day as a new federal holiday.

Of course, a 3-day weekend also means bargains at the local shopping centers. In its depleted and messy shelves, Stonewood Mall tonight showed the ravages of three days of sales and shopping.

White sale

The second-hand store, "Second Tyme Around," is having a "White Sale." I thought their window merchandising was a fun illustration for their sale.

According to Wikipedia, in 1878, John Wanamaker of Philadelphia department store fame decreed January to be the time for a white sale. Bed linens, which were available in white only, were sold at a discount. It is believed he might have done so to keep linen makers in business during a slow time of year.

Black Friday

Okay, I admit it. I'm a Black Friday novice. I usually work on the Friday after Thanksgiving (also known as "Black Friday"), so I've never really had the opportunity to experience this unique shopping event. This year, since I had Friday off, I was "convinced" to go to our local mall (Stonewood Center) at midnight Thanksgiving night to look for Christmas bargains.

To give you a little background, according to timeanddate.com, Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Regardless of which explanation you accept, Black Friday has become the official first day of shopping for the Christmas holiday. As the first official day, retailers offer all sorts of special offers and bargains to entice customers. While I didn't spend a lot, I found some gifts at good prices. Overall, it was an interesting experience. The mall was crowded—there was a sense of excitement. While I later heard crazy stories of people getting really aggressive about shopping (stories of pepper spray, knives and shootings), everyone I saw was wandering around, having fun and spending the money retailers were hoping for.