The origin of Black Friday may surprise you.
Every year, after the delicious baked foods and the spur of excitement from family gatherings during Thanksgiving day, shop owners and retail businesses host the event Black Friday.
It’s often retold that Black Friday was an excuse for retailers to put their business “in the black” instead of being “in the red“ but this is a concocted story.
An article from Britannica explains retailers began to push this narrative so the term “Black Friday” could have a positive connotation.
According to History, it began in the 1950’s in Philadelphia, when the police would use this term to describe the unruly after-effects of the Thanksgiving holiday. The city held the annual big Army-Navy football game each Saturday after Thanksgiving and as a result, suburban shoppers stampeded to watch the game.
Shoplifters and the Philadelphian cops were unable to tackle the crowds. The term had “caught on in Philadelphia, to the extent that the city’s merchants and boosters tried unsuccessfully to change it to ‘Big Friday’ in order to remove the negative connotations.”
Black Friday was eventually used by merchants and the concocted story is still alive today.
It isn’t surprising that many people believed the merchant’s story.
According to Investopedia, “The term [“in the black”] has roots in accounting history when accountants updated financial data in their books by hand before computers and software came into use. Accountants used different colored ink—both black and red—to denote a company’s profitability.”
Investopedia also states, “Companies strive to remain in the black because it means they are at or above the break-even point. By being profitable, they’re able to pay down debt and maintain their cash flows during difficult times.”
The Black Friday event would be enough to get a business in the black as consumer spending increases each year. Last year, consumers spent $9.8 billion on the event day.
Despite its history, Black Friday appeals to consumers as a day of opportune with sales and deals cheaper than seen the whole year. Official sales of the year can be accessed at the website BlackFriday.com.
