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 football game on Saturday of the same weekend.
- Because of the crowds, traffic cops were required to work 12-hour shifts, and they were not allowed to take the day off.
- Over time, the annoyed and fatigued officers started to refer to this dreaded workday as "Black Friday."
- The term became popular and spread to store salespeople who used "Black Friday” to describe the long lines and general chaos they had to deal with on that day.
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"Many people are in the dark when it comes to money, and I'm going to turn on the lights. " ~ Suze Orman
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