The History of Black Friday

The Times They Are (Not) Changing

At the time of Roosevelt’s edict, shopping for consumers was pretty straightforward. Major cities had massive department stores and retail chains clustered together in the center, while smaller towns and cities also had their own shopping centers that consumers were able to buy what they needed for the holidays.

The Times They Are (Not) Changing

Before the days of e-commerce, if you couldn’t make it to a big store, there were mail-order catalogs that you could find those newest and greatest commodities to ship to your home. Besides perishables, up until a certain point consumers could buy basically anything they wanted from the Sears & Roebuck catalogs.