Why Is Black Friday Called Black Friday?

If you live outside the U.S., consider yourself lucky

In six days, the United States will celebrate Black Friday. . . . hurray. . . . Not!

It’s a day where millions of people bow down to the commercialization gods, and gluttonous passion for gain abounds. Fights over a “Cabbage Patch Doll” ensue, and there will be record-setting fender benders in parking lots everywhere.

People will circle the shopping center parking lot for 30 minutes to find that spot close to the front door or, truthfully, to find any parking spot within a mile.

The extra carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide from tailpipes will be unmeasurable that day.

Not from me, since we have an electric car, but honestly, my car will be in the garage.

The accidents on Interstate 15, the I-5, the 805, and all points in between will be record-breaking. If it rains in Southern California on November 24th, which is a possibility, then the accidents will quadruple.

So much fun.

Have you ever wondered why Black Friday is called Black Friday?

I always thought it was because many companies didn’t turn the red ink into black ink on the balance sheet until the holiday shopping season.

Meaning they were in the red and finally turned a profit in November.

I'm not sure why I thought that — oh yes, I read it somewhere.

If it’s in print, then it must be true.

Not exactly; while that reason is mentioned often, even in reputable sources, the real reason goes back to the 1960s.

Specifically in Philadelphia, where the term was used by the local police who were responding to the chaos from the holiday sales.

Fights, auto accidents, shoplifting, and traffic issues required them to work overtime, and even then, they could hardly control the mayhem. Britannica

The term took root in Philadelphia, but then local merchants tried to put a happier face on it by calling the day “Big Friday” instead of “Black Friday.”

New terms for sales shopping days have surfaced since Black Friday, including Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

Small Business Saturday was created by the American Express Credit Card company. It is always the last Saturday of November.

Cyber Monday is a marketing term for online commerce transactions. It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving.

There is another historically significant reason for the term “Black Friday,” which has nothing to do with shopping.

Do you remember it?

The stock market panic that occurred on September 24, 1869.

As you probably guessed, it was a Friday, infamously known as “Black Friday.”

The crash resulted when Jay Gould and railway magnate James Fisk tried to corner the gold market.

They schemed to keep government gold off the market, which they arranged with political influence. Wikipedia

Ulysses S. Grant was told about the scheme.

He ordered $4,000,000 in government gold to be sold on the market. This broke the corner, and gold prices plunged.

Then, a panic started dragging the stock market down and hurting the U.S. economy.

The price of gold was slightly more important than the price of a Cabbage Patch Doll.

I’m curious if there is a Black Friday equivalent in other countries — a day when you leave the car in the garage.

Leave a comment if you suffer this crazy mayhem where you live.

To start your Black Friday early, you must read this post from Smillew Rahcuef, which is filled with great bargains.