Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year for budget-conscious consumers.
The allure of marked-down electronics and the hottest toys of the season often draws huge crowds to stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Long lines start to form before the stores even open their doors, and some have even been known to camp out overnight to score the deal they have their eye on. The interest in Black Friday deals has become so high that several stores have begun starting their sales as early as Thursday evening.
From big-screen televisions to iconic toys like Tickle Me Elmo, here are 15 Black Friday products people have lined up for over the years.
Cabbage Patch Kids were one of the first products to cause mass hysteria amongst holiday shoppers.
The demand for the dolls became so high that several violent incidents dubbed as the “Cabbage Patch Riots” were reported in the fall and winter of 1983. It stands as one of the earliest examples of Black Friday-like hysteria, though the dolls’ popularity extended well past the holiday season.
The mid ’90s saw a similar popular toy craze take over with the Tickle Me Elmo dolls.
A Tyco spokesperson told The New York Times that the toy had completely sold out by 10 a.m. on Black Friday of 1996.
Furby dolls were one of the hottest toys in the late 1990s.
The New York Times reported that 70 people were already in line with tickets to purchase the electronic, talking bird at 6 a.m. at a Florida Walmart for Black Friday in 1998.