The day after Black Friday is Saturday 24th November, or, as I shall refer to it – not so Black Saturday. We will be over the worst by then and St Helen’s Church will be holding their annual Christmas Market.
Trinity Church will be holding a Christmas Fair.
These two churches can be seen from a long way away because both of them have a tall steeple. So if you see a steeple in Abingdon on Saturday morning, head towards it and take part in one of these festive events, and don’t be black anymore.
I really hate the retail sector trying to force American customs onto us. Black Friday holds no resonance with the British public. Our traditional time for bagging bargains is the January sales. The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24.
I agree Janet; Hallowe’en etc.
An American publisher this year tried to sell me Thanksgiving goods; I reminded them that, while I was glad that the Pilgrim Fathers had crossed the Atlantic safely, I myself was British and so felt no need to eat turkey and pumpkin pie to celebrate that event.
However, we Brits took our customs around the world, and the Yanks are returning the compliment!
Am I allowed to say/write “Yanks”? Thought-police alert!!
Halloween is a British tradition adopted and reinvented in their own way by the Americans.
All Hallows Eve (was) and is quite different from Hallowe’en. The “development” is commercial; the original was religious. Of course, religion often is debased for commercial purposes, but Hallowe’en really is nothing to do with the English custom of remembering the dead at this time of year.
The three-day event began on the eve of All Hallows (now called All Saints); AHE was on 31 October. All Hallows/All Saints was kept on the 1st of November, and was followed by All Souls on the 2nd of November. It was a reminder of human mortality and remembrance of the good, bad and indifferent who had gone before us.
Trick and treat is terrible corruption of a solemn season.