We don’t know if you’re in the habit of reading the venerable Christian Science Monitor, but they’re a reliable source of what remains real news, and many of their features and backgrounders are fascinating, as well.
Category: economic history
East vs. West: Where Did Christmas in the U.S. Start? (And Where Is It Headed?)
As with sports and hip-hop rivalries, we enter the holiday week with a good-natured “throwdown” on which coast, and its culture, gets more of the credit for creating Christmas in the U.S. as we have come to know it.
The New York Times starts out by allowing that while “New York can’t quite take credit for Christmas.. apparently, several seemingly timeless holiday traditions were invented here.”
How “Black Friday” Almost Came Early — and other Thanksgiving/”Franksgiving” Tales
Happy short week! It’s become something of a tradition here on the AVPS end of things to get our blog post and newsletter out early during Thanksgiving, which of course is a week rich in traditions (including traditionally rich foods!)
“May Day!,” Pt. I: Malware Security Alert for POS Devices
Happy May Day! In the U.S., it conjures up images of May Poles and spring love. In Europe, it’s marked with parades and marches, and is still something of a “worker’s holiday,” as it was here in the 19th Century. It was the original “Labor Day,” until the one we have now was created, so that American workers could have a day separate from what was perceived as the somewhat incendiary history of May 1st.
Some News and History About Presents. Plus: Merry Christmas!
The holidays are here, and we know you’ll have plenty of happy/merry distractions that will keep you from perusing all your blog news here at AVPS, as well as taking you from all your other “regular” rounds.
But before we lose you to holiday merriment, a quick spot of news after all: It turns out that “Super Saturday,” which just passed, actually exceeded “Black Friday” as the season’s busiest shopping day. “According to ShopperTrak,” as one CBS summary has it, “retailers will pull in as estimated $10-billion in sales on what is referred to as Super Saturday. This year Black Friday netted $9.1-billion in sales, according the ShopperTrak. Analysts say a strong job market and low gas prices have led to more last minute buying.”
When New Year’s Was New — Plus: New Cards Coming for the Hacked!
In the spirit of the holidays, we’ve stayed away from some of our “hard news” offerings in this space, to report on more thematically consistent topics, like the history of Christmas gift-giving, or this week — a history of New Year’s itself.
Before the Holiday Spending Reports: A Brief History of Christmas
First of all, let us wish you happy holidays, and a Merry Christmas. We assume this will pertain throughout the 12 Days of Christmas, whenever you catch up with this post.
And as we all slip into more congenial, hopefully somewhat more relaxed “holiday time,” we also leave behind our reports of spending and card use trends, card security breaches (but oh boy — more about that in the new year!) and such, for a little bit, to contemplate how it was we got “here.”
How do I get a Merchant Account for my New Business?
Sometimes it seems that the system doesn’t work for the new guy on the block. Obstacles seem to be everywhere to prevent you from starting your new business. Financing, government regulations, business plans and upfront costs all contain their own hurdles that must be overcome in order to get your business off the ground.
It Was Originally Going to Be the Second of July!
As we head toward our big midsummer celebration, remember that if John Adams had been right, you’d be celebrating two days earlier!
On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress legally separated itself from Great Britain. President-to-be John Adams wrote to his wife that the “second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.
