I don’t know about you, but I remember hearing the term “Black Friday” on the news and thinking something horrible had happened. I actually remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I heard it. I was thinking how sad it was that some tragedy would befall someone right after Thanksgiving.
My cousin, who had worked in retail for many years, clued me in. She told me all about how miserable it was with all the shoppers coming in and basically trashing the place. But she also told me it was good because, then, after a huge day of sales, the owners of the store would be able to give everyone Christmas bonuses.
I wasn’t sure about my cousin’s answer because I had heard something about how slave owners would sell their best slaves the day after Thanksgiving. That turned out to be totally false.
But I did find in my online travels that the Philadelphia Police, in 1959, were the first to use the term . In their report, the Friday after Thanksgiving was referred to as Black Friday to describe the pedestrian traffic and clogged roadways . Kids were getting out of school early to see Santa and parents were, of course, encouraged to make holiday purchases. That’s what prompted the media to pick up the term.
It was also formerly called Black Friday by the owners of the factories (remember those?) who noticed that workers would religiously be absent the day after Thanksgiving.
Anyhow, fast forward to 2015 and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in America not familiar with the term. The media hype over the past thirty-plus years married with the national obsession with the nearly impossible to comprehend “economy” has made this day very important. A big turn out on Black Friday means the economy is good! If people aren’t out there buying random stuff then, well, that’s supposed to mean we’re all in trouble.
I think it’s sort of sad that a day of consumerism has basically risen to level of greeting card status. I think American’s like the whole thing because it let’s them get their game on. – Like braving a mosh pit or something.
INTERESTINGLY the only outlet reporting how awesome Black Friday was here in the US were the British who apparently got the advance press release.
With all that said, I’m feeling slightly conflicted as I introduce you to MY NEW ONLINE BOOKSTORE! I’m throwing a !!!BLACK FRIDAY SALE!!! This is where you can buy all of my books DIRECTLY from me. I’m cheaper than Amazon and I carry hard to find collector’s editions. I’ll even do a signed copy for you! Domestic Shipping is FREE until Cyber Monday. After that the prices will edge up (but still be a little cheaper than Amazon) and free shipping goes away.
Oh, my goodness. Cyber Monday…. Geesh. Remember the first time you heard THAT?!
