As consumers across the country rev up for Black Friday, have you ever wondered what’s behind the name? There are a range of theories about the origins of the term for the Friday that falls after Thanksgiving. Here, FN shares some of the most popular.
Why Is it Called Black Friday?
The first record of the term has a much darker meaning than the deal extravaganza most shoppers associate it with. According to the History Channel, the term was first used in 1869, to signify the day when two financial investors drove up the price of gold, leading to the U.S. gold and stock market crashing bankrupting millions on Sept. 24.
The term and the negative connotation associated with Black Friday would first be connected to Thanksgiving when, in the early 20th century, factory workers would fail to show up for work the Friday after the holiday. Business owners claimed the day ruined production and impacted the economy.
However, the term wouldn’t become connected to post-Thanksgiving shopping until the late 20th century when a January 1966 article in The American Philatelist, by stamp dealer Martin L. Apfelbaum, EVP of Earl P.L. Apfelbaum, Inc., discussed the name the Philadephia city police department gave the day. According to the article, the day between Thanksgiving and the annual Army versus Navy football game brought significant traffic and crowded sidewalks as holiday shoppers hit the stores looking to score on deals.
Watch on FN
Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on the traffic, businesses in the city attempted to change the term from Black Friday to Big Friday to help shake the negative associations the name brought to the shopping experience. However, the rebranding was a failure.
Black Friday wouldn’t become the shopping holiday most people know and love until the 1980s when stores would go from an operating loss or “in the red” to finally earning a profit or being “in the black.” This closer association with retail earnings led businesses to use Black Friday as an opportunity to turn a profit, thus birthing America’s modern shopping holiday.
How Black Friday Became Black November
These days, retailers have expanded the actual timing of the holiday over a series of multiple days to avoid injuries and even deaths from the frenzy of shopping crowds. In 2008, according to The New York Times, a Walmart employee was trampled to death at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y., during the shopping holiday.
Black Friday was supposed to be the start of the holiday shopping calendar, and Dec. 24 was initially intended to mark the end of the season. The original retail calendar has slowly become obsolete, with more stores stretching out the deals available to eager shoppers.
Stores have also started promoting pre-Black Friday sales and events throughout November and the months before to take some of the wind out of actual Black Friday sales and help them to better capitalize on the retail opportunity.
Increasing the amount of sales and events was done in response to consumer behavior to help keep their interest, as some retailers saw an increase in early holiday shopping, and some consumers wanted to get a head start on their holiday gift-giving.
E-commerce companies like Amazon are promoting events for the shopping season with deals like Amazon Prime Day that ranged from July 11 to July 12 of this year. The e-commerce giant also held early holiday deals to kick off the season known as Prime Big Deal Days, which took place Oct. 10 to Oct. 11.
The holiday has become so important to companies’ bottom lines that brick-and-mortar retailers have even started opening their doors on Thanksgiving afternoon or evening, kicking off the sales event even earlier to compete with other companies. As soon as the Thanksgiving table has been cleared, die-hard bargain hunters head to the stores.
The Black Friday holiday has even expanded to include the whole weekend. Shoppers now have access to deals on Saturday with Small Business Saturday, a day that encourages consumers to hit their local businesses for the latest sales instead of big box retailers.
Black Friday x Cyber Monday
For those who don’t want to fight the crowds or wait in long lines at Starbucks for a coffee break during a shopping spree, they can put on a pair of sweatpants, turn on their computers, and get ready for Cyber Monday, the online equivalent of Black Friday, and one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
The term Cyber Monday was coined in 2005 by Ellen Davis of The National Retail Federation; it began because, statistically, the Monday after Thanksgiving was one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Now that shoppers know the history behind Black Friday, they can lace up their sneakers and get ready to shop.
For those who don’t want to fight the crowds or wait in long lines at Starbucks for a coffee break during a shopping spree, they can put on a pair of sweatpants, turn on their computers and get ready for Cyber Monday, the online equivalent of Black Friday, and one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Curious about the origins of Cyber Monday? It’s a term coined in 2005 by Ellen Davis of The National Retail Federation; it began because statistically the Monday after Thanksgiving was one of the biggest online shopping days of the year.
Want more?
Kate Middleton’s Favorite Brand LK Bennett Is Having a Big Black Friday Sale
These Fashion Retailers Have the Steepest Discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Best Cyber Monday Shoe Deals You Can Expect
