Kicking Off the Holiday Season
Where will you be the day after Thanksgiving? Sitting at home, just coming out of a food coma from the prior day’s feast? If you’re like nearly 80 million Americans, you’ll be fighting traffic and crowds to head out for some of the year’s best deals. Or you may be like nearly 90 million other Americans, who will shop from the comfort of their homes on Black Friday.
The Origins of the Term “Black Friday”
Students of history know that the term “Black Friday” was in fairly common usage long before it became associated with the world’s busiest shopping day. Typically used to refer to disasters or tragedies, it is believed to have come into common usage shortly after the American Civil War, when President Ulysses Grant used it to describe the “Panic of 1869.”
How Black Friday Became Associated with the Day after Thanksgiving
The earliest known association of the term “Black Friday” with the day after Thanksgiving actually had nothing to do with shopping. Giving workers the day off was not common practice in the early part of the 20th century. However, many workers would call in sick that Friday, so that they could enjoy a 4-day weekend, leading management to coin the term.
Around the same time, law enforcement officers in the Philadelphia area starting using the term to refer to weekend traffic and congestion in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. In 1975, though, the New York Times used the term to refer to the massive increase in holiday shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Merchants embraced it and it’s become a phenomenon, eagerly anticipated by consumers around the world.
Some Fun Facts about “Black Friday”
Here are some things you probably didn’t know about the madness that has come to be known as Black Friday:
- It’s also the year’s busiest day for plumbers…all those shoppers can overwhelm the system’
- It indirectly caused Congress to change the official date for Thanksgiving—Until 1941, Thanksgiving was always celebrated on the last Thursday of November. When Thanksgiving fell on the last day of November, merchants expressed concerns that it didn’t leave enough time for holiday shopping. Congress responded by making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November.
- More than one of every ten Black Friday shoppers is still feeling some Thanksgiving cheer—In an online poll, about 12% of those who went out shopping on Black Friday admitted they were intoxicated.
