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Wondering how Black Friday got its name? You are probably not the only one.
Each year the famous sales weekend, which follows Thanksgiving and begins on November 27 this year, sees a significant number of shoppers heading to major stores and online brands in a I try to find the best deals.
Retailers such as Amazon, Currys PC World, John Lewis and Argos have launched a series of deals, with discounts scheduled until Cyber Monday.
However, many people are unaware of the history of the phenomenon and have no idea of the use of the name before it was associated with the pre-Christmas shopping craze.
From the post-soccer chaos in Philadelphia to the people who coined the name of the retail event, this is the story behind Black Friday.
How did Black Friday start?
The term “Black Friday” was first associated with the financial crisis, not with sales purchases.
Two Wall Street financiers, Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, together bought a significant amount of American gold in the hope that the overall price would skyrocket and, in turn, they could sell it for big profits.
On Friday, September 24, 1869, in what was called “Black Friday,” the US gold market crashed and the shares of Fisk and Gould bankrupted the Wall Street barons.
It wasn’t until later years that the post-Thanksgiving period was associated with the name.
The story behind Black Friday
When US stores manually entered their accounting data, they entered profits in black and losses in red.
Many stores are believed to be “in the red” for most of the year, but then “went black” the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers bought a significant number of discounted products.
In more recent years, an inaccurate rumor circulated suggesting that southern plantation owners could purchase slaves at a discounted price after Thanksgiving in the 19th century.
Who coined the name Black Friday?
Philadelphia police officers were the first to link Black Friday with the post-Thanksgiving period in the 1950s. Large crowds of tourists and shoppers came to town the day after Thanksgiving for the Army-Navy soccer game, creating chaos, traffic jams, and theft opportunities.
The city police officers were unable to take the day off and instead had to work long shifts to control the carnage, so they used the term “Black Friday” to refer to it.
As the name spread throughout Philadelphia, some of the city’s merchants and promoters disliked the negative connotations and tried unsuccessfully to change it to “Big Friday.”
Later, Black Friday became known in print, after an advertisement ran in The American Philatelist magazine in 1966. In the late 1980s, the term was commonly known across the country and retailers soon found it. linked to their post-Thanksgiving sales.
Today, Black Friday is the biggest shopping event of the year in the US, when many stores cut prices on a variety of products to increase profits and officially kick off the holiday season.
The US Sales Phenomenon
Sales in November were popular in the United States before Philadelphia police officers coined the term Black Friday.
Macy’s department store launched its famous New York Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, which encouraged shopping in the city the next day.
Shopping day became popular throughout the 1930s, although retailers suffered during the Great Depression.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the decision to move the Thanksgiving date a week earlier than normal in 1939, in the hope that sales would boost the American economy. Some called this move “Franksgiving.”
After police officers linked Black Friday to chaos in Philadelphia, the shopping craze became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s, and the stores drew huge crowds.
Today, millions of Americans go to stores and search websites to find the best deals; retailers often continue their sales over the weekend, concluding with online-only deals on Cyber Monday.
According to a report by Adobe Analytics, American consumers spent $ 7.4 billion online on Black Friday 2019, with LOL Surprise Dolls, Frozen 2 toys, and FIFA 20 as the top three best-selling products.
When did Black Friday arrive in the UK?
Online retail giant Amazon introduced the concept in the UK in 2010, promoting a variety of discounts and offers for consumers.
In 2013, the Asda supermarket, owned by US retailer Walmart, then held its own Black Friday sale, one that resulted in chaos as customers physically battled over televisions and gadgets. Following this, Black Friday has grown significantly across the UK, with more and more retailers choosing to hold sale events.
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