Why is the day after Thanksgiving called "Black Friday"?
Why is the day after Thanksgiving called "Black Friday"?
The first event historically known as “Black Friday” is a scandal that took place on Friday September 24th 1869, when two investors tried unsuccessfully to corner the market of gold.
But when did the term “Black Friday” acquire its brand new connotation, related to great deals and crazy discounts on Christmas purchases?
Macy’s Department Store played a big role in the new definition of “Black Friday”.
Inspired by a Canadian store called Eaton’s, Macy’s organised a big parade on Thanksgiving Day in 1924, to celebrate the beginning of Christmas season, pushing up the sales of the following days with the aid of discounts and promotions.
This practice has been repeated every year since and many other retailers slowly joined in the tradition, which spread all over the Country in a few years.
ONE TERM, DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT ITS ORIGINS.
In the 60s, the term “Black Friday” appeared for the first time in print: the Philadelphia Police Department used it to describe traffic jams and crowding on the streets and in stores. In addition to the crowd that was there for shopping, many tourists rushed the city to attend the big Army-Navy football game that took place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
For Philadelphia cops, that was for sure the worst Friday of the year.
In the 80s, some shopkeepers spread another version of the story, for which the term was related to vendors’ account books, where loss were recorded in red and profits in black.
In fact, during that Friday, merchants could write down all the profits earned thanks to holiday shopping and the notes on their books finally turned from red into black.
Black Friday is nowadays well known all over the World and we are all looking forward to it!
This year Black Friday will be on Friday 29th November.
Good news coming in the next few days! Check your mailbox and see what Il Bussetto has been thinking for you for Black Friday week!
