A Nostalgic Black Friday Experience Of The ‘90s

[@universeexpandingbooksandt2821]

I had my first job at 17 in 1996 at a Suncoast Motion Picture Company store, and I remember those Black Fridays well and even fondly. Today I’m on the Black Friday prep team at a Walmart for my very first time working one. 😬 This video was great and made me nostalgic. You do great work, my dude. I’m a fan.

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you greatly for those kind words! It’s good to hear that your Black Friday retail experiences have been positive!

[@shoked99]

Thanks for the video. I remember going to the mall before Christmas in the late 90s. That was plenty busy for me. I hope it wasn't too busy for Mom shopping for my GI Joe and Lego toys in the 1980s. Childhood Christmas' are truly treasured memories.

[@RetroDaze]

They absolutely are! Some of the best memories for many of us. Thank YOU for taking the time to watch!

[@Prince_Ali89]

Great video! I never knew the history of the term “Black Friday.” I used to work retail back in 2008 and I had my share of the Black Friday chaos myself. I loved getting my nostalgic itch from watching this video. You have a new subscriber in me! 😊

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you so much! Very glad this one was able to scratch that itch!

[@ZMAN_420]

Thanks You to everyone involved in making this You Tube Video. The video is a Nostalgia Masterpiece! Also Think You to everyone commenting in the comment section. Everyone Have a safe and good Thanksgiving-Black Friday Holiday!🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you so much for your continued support and generosity ZMan! We appreciate you!

[@AnthonyJRapino]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[@kudukilla]

Grew up in a small town, no mall, no Walmart. In the 90’s we started having a neighborhood pot luck of leftovers, no new cooked dishes allowed.

[@RetroDaze]

Ha! Thats a great idea. Get rid of all the leftovers quickly.

[@bluejedi723]

I remember working at walmart, around 2002, as a cashier. I worked black Friday. OMG. We were there at 4am, had to fight people off us just to get in the back door to clock in. Doors opened at 5 (instead of normal 6am) and holy batman. People were going rabid over $5 toasters, $10 socks and getting into fistfights over PlayStation games.

[@RetroDaze]

So glad that’s not as much an issue in this day of shopping online.

[@dapardine]

That’s when I worked there too! It was that bad.

[@jeffreyboyd4719]

Ditto. SO stupid. I don't leave home on Black Friday anymore. People are crazy.

[@kvb44]

@@jeffreyboyd4719💯

[@jeffreycharest9093]

Wishing a happy holiday season to everyone at RetroDaze and their families

[@RetroDaze]

@@jeffreycharest9093 Thank you so much Jeff! Happy Holidays to you as well!

[@kronvlat]

i remember standing in line outside of Target the morning after thanksgiving waiting for the doors to open. Doorbuster was a free hot wheels car and i got one! Probably the only reason my brain decided to hold that memory. No clue what my parents bought in there, i was just pleased with my free toy.

[@RetroDaze]

Totally worth it as a kid (and for some, even as an adult 😆)!

[@barb-jm7990]

I didn't go Black Friday shopping as a child. I was the one eating leftover turkey and watching TV. Now, if I go to Black Friday sales, I go in the afternoon after the die-hard early shoppers have gone home for a nap. There is nothing I need so much that I'm willing to fight the crowds in the morning. The stores have plenty of merchandise left and I always offer sympathy to the employees who look really tired from the morning craziness. (I used to work in retail, so I know how they feel.)

[@RetroDaze]

They definitely need a smiling face and kind words by the time the afternoon rolls around.

[@brybaby89]

I won't lie... I subscribed awhile back and have only now just watched a video. As soon as I heard that velvety smooth voice... I spanked that like button like a doctor does a baby.

[@RetroDaze]

😂 😂 😂 Comment of the week right here. Wait ‘til we tell Jon… his ego will be uncontainable.

[@sylviarippey6488]

I went to Black Friday in 2004 at Wal Mart, BIG MISTAKE!! I had no idea the crazy of it all. A lady literally punched me when I reached for a fleece blanket. Neverrrr again. Off the subject, you have such a fun channel. I'm a newer subscriber, and your voice is so calming. Have you ever done a room tour in the room you film in? Lots of cool stuff. 😎 Hope you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving 🦃 🥧 🍞 🥕 🥔

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you so much Sylvia! We truly appreciate the kind words and support. Jon has not done a room tour on this channel, but we can’t say for sure if he has or not over on GenXGrownUp. That 2004 Black Friday experience sounds like the stuff nightmares are made of. 😆 Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving 2024!

[@SilentStormParadox]

The first Black Friday I went shopping was 2016. Went to Walmart and Target, which actually was on Thursday evening. Never seen so many people, and all of them were calm and organized. Police were there smiling and laughing with people. People were saying excuse me as they went around others. I think they figured out how to un-insanity it by that year. I recommend everyone go out even if you don't want to buy anything just to see the phenomenon.

[@RetroDaze]

It’s definitely an experience worth checking out at least once. Especially, as you mentioned, since things have settled down.

[@ZMAN_420]

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving-Black Friday Holiday! Excellent Nostalgic Video!🤘🏻👍🏻🇺🇲

[@RetroDaze]

Thank you so much ZMan! We hope your holiday weekend is amazing!

[@Robalini1]

I actually didn't know the history of Black Friday as a term. Thanks again guys...

[@RetroDaze]

Thank YOU Rob! We did not know the true history either until researching for this video.

[@ThatJunkman]

Loved Kmart

[@RetroDaze]

Hills and Kmart were just the best!

[@Mart9]

I miss when Black Friday was actually ONLY on Friday after thanksgiving..

[@RetroDaze]

We tend to extend these holidays and events out to weeks sometimes. It has its benefits, but can also reduce the excitement.

[@Mart9]

@ remember the excitement of lining up at a store after thanksgiving dinner.

[@tyneishalewis9917]

KB Toys! I remember KB Toys, so many of my wishlist items was from there. So much fun to shop around and see the latest toys & etc. EB/Gamestop was were i got my games. My grandfather had gotten me a Gameboy Color Pikachu edition & games as a gift! My grandma had worked at a variety of places, including Burger King. BK had Rugrats toys and watches, along with Pokemon. Walmart in the '90s/00s had those blue shopping bags and smiley face stickers. This year had some good bargains and all, if not most of my shopping list was on sale! It feels like Black Friday is more or less lasting the whole month of November with early deals and such.

[@RetroDaze]

@@tyneishalewis9917 Yeah it does seem like things have spaced out to include most of November with deals on things, only culminating with a few extra deals on the weekend of Black Friday.

[@xdevildeadlyx7650]

I was born in 2007. Luck for me and my older and younger siblings, we never saw violence. But, we live in nowhere Wisconsin.

[@RetroDaze]

Hopefully shopping violence is never again a “thing”!

[@Dorelaxen]

I don't even leave the house on Black Friday. No sir.

[@RetroDaze]

@@Dorelaxen Don’t blame you one bit!

[@kaneohe]

I watched this video with my mother and it was so nostalgic for us. We are in Honolulu, Hawaii and we are very familiar with the shopping mall seen in your news clips. You gave us a rare glimpse of the good old days. Ala Moana Shopping Center in the 1980s was a magical place. How did you get that footage? Very few KZbin videos exist showing Ala Moana during the 80s and 90s. Thank you for including Hawaii in your video essay.

[@RetroDaze]

That is so awesome that this video, particularly the mall footage, brought back some great memories! That’s what we love to do! Most of the mall footage is either stock video from news archives or home video uploaded to internet sites like Internet Archive.

[@severusdeath]

As an adult I actually use to love shopping on Black Friday with my wife. But now, 99% of it is purchased online from home.

[@RetroDaze]

It’s just soooo convenient! It’s still fun though to hit the mall and department stores once during the season just for the experience.

[@cowboydiecastracing]

As an 80’s kid I never went Black Friday Shopping! My Mom and Grandma would take on that daring task! Yeah I would definitely sleep in and then eventually roll of bed…and then keep rolling cause I still felt so full from Thanksgiving!

[@RetroDaze]

Agreed! It really wasn’t much concern of ours growing up. Besides, presents were Santa’s responsibility!

[@GoonieLord]

I remember the old Black Fridays, man it was like something straight out of World War Z

[@RetroDaze]

It very much was like that! Except the virus was consumerism. 😆

[@GoonieLord]

@RetroDaze 🤣🤣

[@tedadamgreen]

What a great history of Black Friday and tons of memories! Thanks RetroDaze 👊🏻😎🕹️ Ps. happy Thanksgiving and have a very safe Black Friday thru Cyber Monday

[@RetroDaze]

Glad you enjoyed this Ted! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! 🦃

[@AnthonyJRapino]

Happy Thanksgiving!

[@mattm1686]

wow that was great ! thanks

[@RetroDaze]

It was our pleasure Matt!

[@xerokitsune]

Oh goodness the memories. There is one thing, you would have seen the Atari Jaguar(on heavy discount mind you) in KB in the mid 90s. I know for me, the local KB was selling Atari Jaguar systems and games well into 1997.

[@RetroDaze]

@@xerokitsune The Jaguar COULD have been a force if Atari could have secured a lot more third party developers.

[@xerokitsune]

@@RetroDaze True, but at that time Atari had a lot going against them.

[@RetroDaze]

@@xerokitsuneThey really did. The market was saturated with systems vying for a tiny piece of the pie that Nintendo, Sega, and Sony were gobbling up.

[@FamicomFanatic]

I would’ve had the same reaction as Jimmy - “a bookstore on Black Friday?” 🤣 I’d be all about Electronics Boutique and Kay Bee. I really miss those stores, though technically EB is GameStop now, but it’s just not the same. I never went out on Black Friday as a kid and actually never went until about 2005 or 2006, which wasn’t very exciting for me. When my lady and I have gone out, we always seem to walk through a cloud of some stranger’s ultra thick Thanksgiving gravy farts at some point 💩💨 It never fails. How delightful! 🤢🤮

[@RetroDaze]

Oh gosh! The infamous After Thanksgiving Gas Epidemic is a yearly crisis. 😆

[@FamicomFanatic]

@ Yeah, people really seem to let them fly and don’t care about people walking through them. You’ll be minding your own business and then suddenly, you’re punched in the nose with a thick, funky gravy fart. “Is that stuffing and giblet gravy??” 🤢🤮

[@RetroDaze]

@@FamicomFanaticYikes. Thank goodness for clothespins. 😆

[@AnthonyJRapino]

I'm such a nerd. 😂

[@FamicomFanatic]

@ We all are nerds in our own ways, so it’s all good. 😁👍🏻 I’ve never been a huge reader, but can’t deny a book that really grabs me. Boring books seem more like a chore to read and literally put me to sleep 😂

[@TheFinalBoss25]

Imagine killing someone trampling them just so you can get a Vizio TV at $200 baffles me

[@RetroDaze]

Hopefully those people felt the weight of what they had done when the dust settled. Unconscionable.

[@scottshep8978]

People are killed nowadays for less.

[@lipstickcloud]

Right, it just doesn't even make sense.

[@dearien]

Hills, I missed that place

[@RetroDaze]

@@dearien As do we! Loved Hills so much. It’s where the toys are!

[@dotothenn]

I did black Friday shopping back in the day. I trained for months with Don Frye and Royce Gracie just to make it out alive.

[@RetroDaze]

Even that could not prepare one for the battles about to be waged!

[@jeffreyboyd4719]

There wasn't anything like Black Friday when I was a kid in 1970s East Texas. I went to work at Walmart in the early 2000s. Black Friday was hellish and I was at work when the murderous hoards were trampling people to death. They were an avaris ridden monstrous mob...but the store was worse in my educated opinion. I don't miss them. This vid dredged up nightmares not pleasant memories...but I like Nightmare on Elm Street so it's all good! 🤣💀🤣

[@RetroDaze]

😆 Oh no! Well at least you dig the nightmares!

[@jeffreyboyd4719]

@RetroDaze HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA 💀

[@billybarnett2846]

I was a kid in the 70s and stores would be closed the day after. In those old movies where you would see the family together for the holidays because there was no place to go. Everything would be closed on holidays back then. Veterans, Fourth of July, Memorial day, etc. it would all be closed. Despite what TV showed some people didn't do the Black Friday in 90s on up because they were saving up for Christmas or the better deals on the after sales.

[@RetroDaze]

Generally you could get the better deals after the holidays. So long as you didn’t have kids that would be disappointed on Christmas morning. 😆

[@shannon_w.]

In my area Black Friday was VERY popular in the 90's on up.

[@FIDreams]

06:15 and the Killing of the Brick and mortar shops. They have Never been able to recover. That's why most of them have Online stores now if they want to survive.

[@RetroDaze]

Agreed. While it’s kept shoppers safer it’s also had a negative effect. Still love the shopping experience a mall provides. We hope it never goes away.

[@suralos]

I miss ShopKo, thanks for bringing back the old ad featuring a spokeswoman named "Karen" before THAT name was given its negative reputation.

[@RetroDaze]

We’re not fans of the “Karen” moniker for complainers. Our producer’s mom was named Karen.

[@JesusChrist-is-not-MrNice]

Too many customers with a cold coughing everywhere 😂 The weather, in the province where I live, promotes that.

[@RetroDaze]

Yeah those crowds could be quite the breeding ground for sickness. 🤧

[@Crocogator]

5:50 how heavy were those gift certificates?

[@RetroDaze]

😆 They don’t make ‘em like they used to.

[@NITE_SHIFTING]

I always say, I could never work retail.... I could never work retail × a million during the holidays. 😂

[@RetroDaze]

It takes a lot of patience and a certain personality to really handle it well. We have neither. 😆

[@blueskies25]

A teen in the 90s and never been in or seen an EB

[@RetroDaze]

@@blueskies25 No way!? Where did you grow up?

[@blueskies25]

@RetroDaze Minnesota. We had the rival FuncoLand here which later became GameStop in the early 2000s

[@RetroDaze]

@@blueskies25FuncoLand was great as well!

[@calicocalthecopperkid7230]

We need a deep dive on where "Black Friday" term came from. I heard in the 1800s slaves where sold cheaper to "beat" taxes. Then I heard that some earlt Celtic tribes used the term for harvest of crops. I dunno 😮

[@RetroDaze]

Can’t say for sure where the term itself originated outside of the context of it’s use for the day after Thanksgiving.

[@folee_edge]

Make Thanksgiving's Friday Black again.

[@RetroDaze]

@@folee_edge 😆 Black with profits or black with bruises?

[@ithydoodles]

13:13 $10 furbys at kb toys.

[@RetroDaze]

A steal compared to what they’d sell first later on!

[@archmage7813]

This video feels incomplete

[@RetroDaze]

We hope that it still managed to conjure up some good memories for you.

[@tedadamgreen]

Curious how so?

[@archmage7813]

@tedadamgreen it was in the middle of a Black Friday experience and then just stopped.. it just stopped even though it wasn't really done