I always have mixed up "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, with "Black Tuesday," the day the stock market crashed in 1929. The two concepts are diametrically opposed - the blackest day of the free market economy versus it's most optimistic sales day. In any case, "Black Friday" is the day the Christmas buying season begins, with people wandering around the city (like in the photograph above) dressed in Victorian garb and singing Christmas carols. Everyone is filled with Christmas cheer, at least for the next five weeks or so. As I recall, when I was a young lad, people dressed like this the year round, and were cheerful every day of the year. Maybe my memory is just fading, or perhaps it was just a south side of Chicago kind of thing.
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