Loading ...The Origins of Black Friday
Written By: Rick Vaughn on November 29, 2008
2 Comments
I was originally planning on writing about the best things to buy on Black Friday. Then after doing some research, I found that there are multiple stories behind the term Black Friday and where it came from. So I have compiled a few of the stories I found although no one seems to want to take credit for coining the term.
- In 1966, “Black Friday” is the name given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day by the Philadelphia Police Department. It was not meant as a term of endearment. “Black Friday” officially opens the Christmas shopping season in the city and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to close.
- In general, the term Black Friday has been used when a public calamity has occurred.
- Employees of retail stores have for years referred to Black Friday in a satirical way, to note the extremely stressful and hectic nature of the day. Heavy traffic and customer demands added to the long hours make it a difficult day..
- Probably the most common historical origin of Black Friday is from retailers’ shift to profitability during the holiday season. Back in the day when accounting records were kept by hand, red ink indicated financial loss while black ink indicated profit, thus coining the popular fiscal terms of being “in the red,” (losing money) or “in the black” (profitable). Most retail stores run in the negative (or Red) from January until November, only to get into profit (or Black) from the Friday after Thanksgiving until New Year’s Eve.
What adds to the enigma of Black Friday is that some people consider it a personal holiday of sorts. Waking up at obscene hours and allowing their animal instincts to take over (see above video). While others, like myself, absolutely refuse to leave the house and get into this mist of this craziness. Let me know when it’s over.
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Your site and articles very nice friend ..
I’m coming for dropping by …
No. 4 probably describes Black Friday the best.
This is the only day where you can get people to line up for hours, because they can save about 5% from the previous lowest price. Some deals don’t even save you any money.