You've probably heard some of the madness that surrounds Black Friday, well it's about to get a little crazier!
In the 1800s, the term “Black Friday” was used in reference to the stock market crashes.
The term was used for the first time on September 24, 1869, when James Fisk and Jay Gould were trying to corner the gold market on the NYSE.
In 1924, the premier Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was held.
Over the years, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become part of the holiday season rituals in America.
As bizarre as this may sound, it was reported by CNN who explain that the plumbers are needed to clean up after guests “overwhelm the system”.
From the mid-19th to the early 20th Century, the US president would declare a “day of giving thanks” on the last Thursday in November.
This changed in 1939 when the last Thursday was the last day in the month.
Retailers were afraid that the holiday season would be shortened and therefore, petitioned the president to declare the holiday be held one week earlier.
In 1941, Congress created a joint resolution to clear things up.
After that, Thanksgiving was always celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, which gave shoppers one extra week to shop before Christmas.
According to a 1975 report from the NY Times, the term “Black Friday” is Philadelphia slang.
This is because the police had become frustrated with the traffic congestion caused by shoppers on that day, and the retailers weren’t happy to be associated with traffic and smog.
So, in 1961, one newspaper tried to rename the day as “Big Friday”, but, as you already know, this term didn’t stick around long.
Until 2001.
It was thought of as being the biggest shopping day of the year.
However, it was actually the Saturday before Christmas that beat it every year until 2001.
For many years, Canadian retailers would worry when their customers went into the States on Black Friday in search for great deals, which forced them to start their own Black Friday deals.
Since then, various other places in the world have taken on this tradition including the UK, Brazil, India, France, Norway and many more…
Which translates to “the good weekend.”
This is actually attached to the anniversary of the 1910 Mexican revolution, which sometimes coincides with the American Thanksgiving.
El Buen Fin actually lasts for the entire weekend instead of just one day.
The tradition of Black Friday shopping was broken when Walmart opened up their store on the evening of Thanksgiving.
Since that time, the retailers are engaged in a race against the clock to catch up with the times.
These days, 33 million Americans plan to run out shopping as soon as they finish their Thanksgiving feast.
This is known as Gray Thursday.
According to a survey conducted on behalf of the coupon site RetailMeNot, 12% of all Black Friday shoppers admit they hit the stores whilst under the influence of alcohol.
Luke Ward is the founder of The Fact Site.
Luke Ward is the founder of The Fact Site. He's a professional blogger & researcher with over 11 years’ experience in fact finding, SEO & web design. In his spare time he loves to travel and drink coffee.