There was no Black Friday that I was ever aware of growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s in south Sunflower County. On the day after Thanksgiving, you were eating leftovers at deer camp and hoping for a good tree stand to be in. Black Friday? We didn’t need no stinkin’ Black Friday. Christmas shopping would somehow get done up until December 24, and deals and money would be found, hopefully. Just don’t dig into your fireworks money, though…lol. The only semi-Black Friday I can remember is when ol’ Trader John Weathersby had an event by his dealership in Indianola. He had a tank come out and run over some import cars, mostly a Volkswagen, I believe. But we all cheered and hooped and hollered as this was Grade A entertainment and you couldn’t beat it with a stick. But the encore was that Trader John revved up his balloon to 50 or 100 feet or maybe more and had all these white paper plates with a discount written on them that were good at Magic Mart – the pre-Walmart of its day but a whole lot better. He tossed them out and we all ran around wrestling for them. It was a much better idea than the WKRP Turkey Drop. I got one for 35% off an item. I got myself to Magic Mart and with few funds in my wallet, decided upon an alarm clock that in 1978 had all the gadgets – those numbers that flipped down, not digital, and it was AM/FM and probably did something else – but the best part was that the 35% off put it in my budget and I brought it home. I had it for years but have no idea what became of it. These days, Black Friday is everywhere and all those online big box stores have early shopping trying to draw everybody into their store for a discount on something and get you to spend more on non-discounted items as well. I reckon you can’t blame them. I really don’t have a clue how successful those deals are but I do know this: If you have a hot air balloon by your store and give a crazy man some white paper plates and a Sharpie, you’ll get folks in your store buying something, whether they need it or not! Get busy hunting or get busy shopping, but keep your eyes on the skyline looking for that special hot air balloon. Shop local, shop often and be sure and eat out when you’re on that shopping adventure as well.
