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Why Black Friday Is “Black”
Black Friday wasn’t a great day for the police departments in mid-20th-century Philadelphia. By the 1960s, locals had taken to calling the chaotic day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday.”
In 1950s Philadelphia, Thanksgiving weekend was a mob scene. The Army and Navy college football teams celebrated their fierce rivalry each year with a neutral-ground clash in Philly on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The day before, thousands of people from surrounding communities – as well as Army or Navy devotees from farther afield – flooded the city in anticipation of the big game. They took the opportunity to stock up on clothes, home goods, and other giftable items at central Philly’s many retail shops and department stores.
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Why Black Friday Is So Popular
Black Friday is the conventional starting day for the holiday shopping season.
Historically, it’s also been the best day to find great deals on the year’s hottest toys, games, and electronics.
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The Term “Black Friday”
- In 1869, two oligarchs conspired to corner the American gold market, which was at that time the basis for the U.S. dollar.
- Their plan was so complex and the plot finally unraveled on Friday, September 24, sending U.S. financial markets into a tailspin, ruin...
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The Department Store Model: Holiday Shopping in the Early to Mid-20th Century
- The day after Thanksgiving was a natural time for shoppers to head into town and hit the department store. Most families were still together from the prior day’s feast, and few middle-class folks were required to work.
- Big-city shopping districts were anchored by d...
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The Modern Holiday Shopping Calendar
- Thanksgiving fell on the last Thursday of November since 1863 until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of November (starting with 1941), influenced by the request of a powerful coalition of retailers.
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The 20th Century: The Parade of Sponsors
- In the middle of the 20th century, Thanksgiving parades drew crowds in most major cities and in some of the smaller towns too. Many were sponsored by local or national retailers. Back in the day, that meant mostly department stores.
- By attaching their names to the ...
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Black Friday Today
- Today’s retail environment is omnichannel. Shoppers are just as likely – if not more so – to buy stuff at home on their smartphones or laptops than drive to the nearest mall to seek the best deals in person.
- The decline of brick-and-mortar retail i...
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The origins of Black Friday
The term was made-up by the overworked Philadelphia police officers.
- In the 1950s, crowds of shoppers and travelers flooded Philadelphia the day after Thanksgiving.
- Philadelphia stores hosted major sales that day, but the city also hosted the Army-Navy footb...
The real origin of Black Friday
- Before retail repackaged Black Friday, it had a more sinister meaning. The earliest use of the phrase Black Friday dates to 1869. It was the day gold prices plummeted and caused a market crash. The economic effects lasted for years.
- Traffic police coined the phrase...
The wholesome story of Black Friday
The wholesome story of Black Friday is that happy shoppers would flood local shops and malls the day after Thanksgiving, and the extra spending would put retailers "in the black" for the year.
The Friday after Thanksgiving was named "Black Friday" and it became the unofficial start of the ...
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