Black Friday: Revealed

Black Friday: Revealed

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, where people go out, after saying how thankful for the things that they already have, and fight tooth and nail for more things. Many of the name brand stores drop prices lower than half the regular retail price, have door-busters, which if you're not careful, might turn into face busters. There are many different ideas about what gave the name Black Friday to that day of the year that people forget their common decency and fight for the last 55” flat screen television.

One idea that has been in circulation is the thought that it was made up by retail companies that are finally going to be able to go into “the black” after being in the red all year long. This term started being used by consumers in the 1980’s.

Another idea of where the term Black Friday came from is in 1994, with the Philadelphia police department. The term Black was used to describe the awful traffic conditions that occurred when people from all around swarmed into the towns causing terrible traffic jams. No traffic officer was able to take off the day of black Friday and the entirety of the station was put on 12-hour shifts all day. The headline written by a Philadelphia journalist called “Black Friday” was the apparent start of the name, which stuck and caught around the word.

Another conspiracy circling the beginning of Black Friday was the event in September of 1869, when the crash of the Gold Market caused the bankruptcy of the people on Wall Street all the way to Farmers. This was caused by two individuals; Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, who worked as a team to buy as mush gold as they possibly could, raising the price of it to a ridiculous amount, then try to sell it. However the plan fell through and the market went into a downward spiral.

            The Black Friday that had taken place in George Square in Glasgow, earned its name by being one of the most violent days in the cities history. This took place in January 1919. This riot was a result of the need for shorter workdays that was supported by heavy riots and campaigns. This also resulted in several injuries, and also the shortening of the workday.

Another day that might be referred to as Black Friday is in November 1910 when several hundreds of suffragettes peacefully marched onto parliament and were met while violent force from police. These police officers assaulted and arrested several different civilians.

Another way that Black Friday could have gotten its name is from the days of slaves. When African Americans were still in chains it is said that the day after thanksgiving, large amounts of slave families were separated and sold.

It is hard to say exactly where the name Black Friday came from, however it isn’t hard to tell that it is not associated with any of these things for the most recent generations in the United States. It is safe to say that the first thing that would come to the min of anyone 18 to 25 when saying Black Friday is: unbeatable deals.