One of the hand-birds found among the primary documents.

Harvard historians have made a startling breakthrough as they sifted through a recently recovered cache of primary documents from the colonial days- there was apparently a holiday that occurred the day before Black Friday.

“This is a very exciting time to be a historian.” Professor Gerald Donowitz told the Associated Press. “First, Britain leaves the European Union. Then, Donald Trump, a man who has never held any kind of public office in his entire life, is elected as President of the United States. Now, the discovery of an entirely new holiday.”

Unfortunately, experts are unclear what, exactly, this holiday was celebrating, as the primary sources include crude outlines of human hands made to resemble birds and drawings of hats with buckles on it.

“Well, the hats are black, so that could be an allusion to the biggest shopping day of the year, and the buckles could be a symbolic tightening of the belt in preparation of the massive amounts of spending to come.” Professor Donowitz studied one of the hand-birds. “I have no idea what the fuck this is supposed to mean, though.”

The sources were fuzzy on the actual name of the holiday. The English language has changed and evolved over time, making the name subject of some controversy.

“Some of my colleagues insist on different names and their arguments hold water, but I’m personally of the persuasion that this holiday is called ‘Giving Thanks Day.’”

And while the name of the holiday is a matter of debate for the scholars, it seems the traditions are clear. “It was a day of feasting, usually turkey, sometimes ham, to carbo-load for the massive amounts of shopping that was going to occur the following day and it was a day to express gratitude for the bottom-rate bargains of Black Friday that everyone was getting.”

It seems that members of the public are interested in reviving this holiday. “Giving Thanks Day sounds like a great idea,” said Martha Robinson, “normally on Black Friday Eve all we do is pack our lunches and go over our shopping lists. It would be a good idea to reflect and express our gratitude for the huge discounts on all of the stuff we’re going to buy. I mean, without all those massive cut-rate bargains, we wouldn’t even have a Black Friday in the first place.”

Perhaps in the coming years we will see a resurgence of the tradition of Giving Thanks Day, where families gather the day before Black Friday in order to express their love and appreciation for all of the cheap stuff they are going to buy the following day.