Final answer:
A sale at The Bon Marché after Thanksgiving to start the Christmas season would be similar to the modern Black Friday sales. The department store was known for its seasonal sales and mail-order catalogs, predating today's common retail practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
A sale at The Bon Marché the day after Thanksgiving to kick off the Christmas season would be considered the precursor to modern Black Friday sales. The Bon Marché, the first real department store, located in Paris, was known for its innovative marketing and sales tactics, which included the popularization of seasonal sales and introducing the concept of mail-order catalogs.
The store's practice of hosting big sales to attract a high volume of customers, like the notable February "white sales," reflects early instances of sales events designed to draw in shoppers, comparable to Black Friday in the United States signifies the beginning of the holiday shopping season.