Once a year on the Friday after Thanksgiving, the largest shopping day of the year occurs. This traditionally marks the first official shopping day of the Christmas season.

Black Friday all started because two men, Jay Gould and James Fisk, caused a market crash by raising the price of gold, and since then, it has made its mark on American history.

Black Friday has become an iconic day since the year 1869. Many families and friends gather together on the day after they eat one of the biggest meals of the year to try to knock every item off all the Christmas lists.

2024 Black Friday was a little different than usual. Online shoppers spent a record-breaking $10.8 million. Some are probably wondering what they purchased. Many items, such as toys, jewelry, appliances, clothing, and electronics, raised in sale price this year compared to other years.

The most popular 2024 items were Lego sets, Disney Princess dolls, PlayStation 5, Xbox series X, Nintendo Switch OLED, Makeup, Skincare sets, Bluetooth speakers, Smart watches, Perfumes, and espresso machines.

Senior Sammie Bender went Black Friday shopping and noticed the sale prices. “I wish that the deals were better and not like ‘Buy One Get One 50% off’ instead ‘Buy One Get One Free.’”

Black Friday has been becoming less and less popular due to the chaos it causes and the bad sale prices.

Sophomore Mara Avampeto went online shopping on Amazon and said, “The deals I feel were not really sales; they were more like regular prices.”

Even though many people strongly believe that Black Friday felt unbeneficial, School Counselor Jenna Reynolds, felt otherwise. “I’ve never been a big shopper, but Black Friday is an exception, and this year I went all out.”

There were many popular places in Harford County that people preferred to shop including, Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, Home Depot, Kohl’s, DSW, Harford County Mall, and Ulta.

Not only were there places to shop in person there were also plenty of options online such as Amazon, Nike, Under Armour, Bath and Body Works, Sephora, American Eagle, Apple, and Victoria’s Secret.Black Friday has always been a popular day, but now the future of it isn’t looking too good because of the bad sale prices and the negative opinions about it.