Today we know Black Friday as the day following American Thanksgiving - a day where we tend to show gratitude and celebrate all the things we are thankful for.
Then BANG!
The following day is Black Friday, a day that strikes a completely different tone. It is centered around greed and instant gratification as people actively search for discounted deals in shopping malls.
I am “guilty” of enjoying Black Friday as well, albeit I am Canadian, so it doesn’t fall immediately after Thanksgiving.
What I was curious about was how the term for the day originated. Thinking back to the Economic classes I took in school, black represents a profit and red a loss. I thought this is what it meant, but it’s actually the other way around.
The VERY FIRST time the term Black Friday was used was back in 1869, when there was a stock market crash in the United States. A similar event happened approximately 60 years later, called Black Tuesday, resulting in the beginning of the Great Depression.
In the 1950s, factory workers would decide to falsely call in sick after Thanksgiving, which in turn extended the holiday weekend. Of note: Thanksgiving always falls on Thursday in the United States. Black Friday was labelled by factory owners as a day of disaster and misfortune.
In the 60s, people started using the day to start their holiday shopping. The term caught on, and the rest is history.
Then BANG!
The following day is Black Friday, a day that strikes a completely different tone. It is centered around greed and instant gratification as people actively search for discounted deals in shopping malls.
I am “guilty” of enjoying Black Friday as well, albeit I am Canadian, so it doesn’t fall immediately after Thanksgiving.
What I was curious about was how the term for the day originated. Thinking back to the Economic classes I took in school, black represents a profit and red a loss. I thought this is what it meant, but it’s actually the other way around.
The VERY FIRST time the term Black Friday was used was back in 1869, when there was a stock market crash in the United States. A similar event happened approximately 60 years later, called Black Tuesday, resulting in the beginning of the Great Depression.
In the 1950s, factory workers would decide to falsely call in sick after Thanksgiving, which in turn extended the holiday weekend. Of note: Thanksgiving always falls on Thursday in the United States. Black Friday was labelled by factory owners as a day of disaster and misfortune.
In the 60s, people started using the day to start their holiday shopping. The term caught on, and the rest is history.
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