If you are always on fleek, you would know that today is Black Friday, and many-a-retail outlets are offering up commodities at a discount. So, you must have wondered: What is Black Friday? Why is it so called? Where did it start?
These may be just some of the questions you have asked. Here is the whole scoop, and all your Black Friday questions answered.
What is Black Friday?
It is the name given to the first shopping day after the American holiday, Thanksgiving – which is celebrated yearly on the fourth Thursday of November; which would mean that yesterday, November 26 was Thanksgiving in the United States.
It is the day when Americans begin their shopping for Christmas, hoping to gain from the large discounts offered by shops and retail outlets on goods
Why is it so Called?
Opinions differ on the origin of the name or when it was first used, but these are some of the most popular legends.
Some believe that the name was first recorded in 1966 by Earl Apfelbaum, a dealer in rare stamps who said that:
“Black Friday” is the name that the Philadelphia Police Department gave to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day.
The reason was that since ‘Black Friday’ officially opens the Christmas shopping season in the city centre, it usually brought massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing. Hence, the police department coined the phrase to describe the mayhem on this day.
The other is that because many merchants objected to the use of a negative term to refer to one of the most important shopping days in the year; hence, by the early 1980s, an alternative theory began to be circulated:
That retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season, beginning on the day after Thanksgiving. These losses were usually recorded using red ink to show negative amounts, while the profits were recorded using black ink to show positive amounts.
Black Friday, under this theory, is the beginning of the period when retailers would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year’s profits (the black), with the earliest known use of this theory appearing in the November 28, 1981 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Where Did it Start?
As have been explained, it started in the United States of America. But like all things associated with America, it has become a global observance in such places like Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa to mention just a few countries where discounts are offered on goods on this day.
So, what do you have your eye on this Black Friday? Hit the online stores, and score yourself (or someone you know) a bargain!
