Black Friday: Origins

Wondering how Black Friday got its name? You're probably not the only one. 

Each year the famous sales weekend, which follows Thanksgiving Day and begins tomorrow - November 29 - this year, sees a significant amount of shoppers head to high street stores and online brands in attempt to find the best deals. 

Ahead of Black Friday 2019, several retailers including Amazon, Currys PC World, John Lewis and Argos have already launched a range of early offers.

Yet, many people are unaware of the phenomenon's history.  Here is the story behind Black Friday. 

The early origins and history

The term "Black Friday" was actually first associated with financial crisis, not sales shopping.

Two Wall Street financiers Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, together bought a significant amount of US gold in the hope of  being able to sell it for huge profits.

On Friday, September 24 1869, in what became referred to as "Black Friday", the US gold market crashed and Fisk and Gould's actions left Wall Street barons bankrupt. 

Black Friday tales

When shops in the US recorded their accounting details by hand, they noted profits in black and losses in red.

It is thought that many shops were "in the red" throughout most of the year but they later "went into the black" the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers bought a significant amount of discounted merchandise. 

Who coined the name Black Friday?

Police officers in Philadelphia were first to link Black Friday to the post-Thanksgiving period in the 1950s. Large crowds of tourists and shoppers came to the city the day after Thanksgiving for the Army-Navy football game, creating chaos, traffic jams and shoplifting opportunities. 

Police officers in the city weren't able to take the day off work and instead had to work long shifts to control the carnage, thus using the term "Black Friday" to refer to it.

Today, Black Friday is the USA's biggest shopping event of the year, when many shops cut their prices on a range of products, in order to boost profits and officially kick off the festive season.  

Although some retailers such as Ikea and Marks and Spencer chose not to join the shopping craze, many retailers have successfully boosted their profits by participating.

Article taken from The Telegraph.

Now, there are two other  important dates around Thanksgiving, Cybermonday and Givingtuesday. What do you know about them?