Black Friday Origination

We all know the beloved, and sometimes dreaded, ‘Black Friday’. To many it has been know as a day of great sales that the early bird can catch. It is also known as the day marking the beginning of the holiday season. To some it is a day of long lines, angry shoppers and irritated retail employees. But, what is ‘Black Friday’? How did it begin? How did it get this name?

Black Friday has been known by many as the first official day of the Christmas shopping season, which most Americans believe to be the biggest shopping day of the year. The folklore of the day is that it was named so for the large number of sales for the day bringing nearly any retailer out of the ‘red’, or debt, and into the ‘black’. Although there are a great number of sales that day and there are many retailers that do prosper greatly from the revenue consumers bring to their establishments, this is not the biggest shopping day of the year.

In general there is a reportedly large boost in sales on the day after thanksgiving, but in the few days to follow there is a drastic drop in retail sales on the whole. It has been found that the most revenue taken in by retailers during the Christmas season general happens during the last weekend before December 25th. Therefore, while sales may increase on ‘Black Friday’, this retail holiday does not produce the numbers the general population believes are reported.

The true meaning behind the name ‘Black Friday’, itself does not even relate to retail revenue as has been the folklore for so long. It is believed that the term ‘Black Friday’ may have originated in Philadelphia back in the 1960’s. It was used by retailers and law enforcement to describe the enormously disruptive vehicle and pedestrian traffic, as well as unpleasant customers during the shopping hours the day after Thanksgiving. Despite the theories of where the term originated, or when it sprouted up into our modern day vocabulary, over the past decade the term ‘Black Friday’ has become an American unofficial holiday that most celebrate to the fullest.  As we all should.  After all, we are in hard economic times and as we are told everyday, go spend at the stores to boost our economy.  So perhaps ‘Black Friday’ didn’t begin as a term relating to the economic boost shopping provides to American retailers, but today it may very well be just that.