Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving festival in the USA, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Black Friday has gained in importance, marking the start of the humungous shopping period during which Americans begin their Christmas/holiday shopping.
Shoppers indulge liberally in Black Friday online shopping as well as throng their favorite stores like Wal-Mart and Macy’s to take advantage of discounts offered by such retailers. This day is regarded as the harbinger of the Christmas shopping season.
The origin of the term Black Friday has become obscured in the mists of time. There are many fanciful ideas about the evolution of the term.
One of the early explanations was that term originated with a tradition of slave traders using the day as an opportunity for selling their wares.
But some historians point out that the use of the term ‘Black Friday’ for the day after Thanksgiving has nothing to do with slavery and slave owners. In fact, the term did not originate until nearly a century after the practice of slavery was abolished in the USA.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the term stems from 1951 and refers to the practice of workers to call in sick on the day after Thanksgiving for getting four days off on the Thanksgiving weekend. This was because Friday before Thanksgiving was generally a working day despite Thursday being Thanksgiving Day.
The disease called as ‘Thanksgiving” declared by workers is amusingly compared to the impact of the Bubonic plague. When Black Friday comes, most workers report as being sick. In turn, shopping gets boosted multifold.
Many companies have resorted to tactics like denial of pay to employees absent before and after Thanksgiving holiday. The problem is that it impacts workers who are genuinely sick. In this regard, doctors’ reports are at best, dubious.
Another important reference to the term Black Friday goes back to 1961. In that year, the term was used derisively by police personnel in the city of Philadelphia, who had to deal with the mayhem and headache caused by all the additional vehicular and pedestrian traffic created by hordes of shoppers heading to the downtown stores in the city in the two days after Thanksgiving. It was also the day that Santa Claus took his seat in department stores for the first time to begin the Christmas shopping season.
As regards the whole country, the most popular shopping days of the year are the two days after Thanksgiving. The resultant problems of crowd discipline and jostling for parking are a worrying problem for policemen. In Philadelphia, it became the custom for officers to refer to post- Thanksgiving days as Black Friday and Black Saturday.
Another popular explanation of the origin of Black Friday is that it is the day in which retailers start to show a profit for the year. In financial terms, it implies moving from the ‘red’ (losses) to ‘black’ profits. Losses would be indicated in red ink while profits in black ink.
These are some of the facts associated with the phenomenon of Black Friday and its origin. For more information click here.
