The term "Black Friday" was first used in 1869 to describe the financial crisis caused by the crash of the U.S. gold market. Two Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, conspired to buy up as much gold as possible, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits.
Contrary to popular belief, "Black Friday" does not mean "showing a profit, not any losses."
Black has always been linked to difficult financial times rather than prosperous business success.
The conspiracy unravelled, sending the stock market into free fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers. The most commonly repeated story behind the Thanksgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition links it to retailers, who would supposedly profit the day after Thanksgiving due to increased spending on discounted merchandise. However, the natural history behind Black Friday is not as sunny as retailers might have you believe. In the 1950s, Philadelphia police used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, as suburban shoppers and tourists flooded the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game.
Shoplifters also took advantage of the chaos in stores and made off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache.
Black Friday has a long history of changing meaning over time, with public relations professionals attempting to change the day's perception from "Black" to "Big" in 1961. Merchants discussed the issue with their Deputy City Representative, Abe S. Rosen, who recommended converting Black Friday and Black Saturday to Big Friday and Big Saturday. The media cooperated in spreading the news of Christmas-decorated downtown Philadelphia, the popularity of a "family-day outing" to department stores during the Thanksgiving weekend, increased parking facilities, and the use of additional police officers for traffic flow.
The name "Big Friday" didn't stick, but continued efforts to put a positive spin on the day eventually paid off. Today, most consumers associate Black Friday with black ink retailers, seeing increased sales. Retailers have taken full advantage of its global recognition as a day to make a significant portion of their yearly sales with one-day-only and doorbuster promotions. Online sales alone during Black Friday 2019 reached a record $7.2 billion, up 14% from the previous year.
However, Black Friday has always represented the dark side of American consumerism, with frenzied crowds competing for discounted merchandise resulting in violence and injuries, including 12 deaths. If you decide to participate in one of the biggest shopping days of the year, try to have a bit of compassion for others and consider staying home and scoring deals from the comfort and safety of your computer.
So, is there such a thing as Black Friday, or it's just a technique retailers use to lure customers into buying inconsequential things? People have previously died on this day, and the horror of this day has been haunting contemporary society in varied ways.
