Black Friday: The Real Story, From a Local Who Gets It

Ever wonder how the day after Thanksgiving became this hella wild shopping mess? We’re talking crazy long lines, blinking discount signs everywhere. And, yeah, sometimes folks literally fighting over a deal. It’s the wild, discount-driven chaos we all know as Black Friday. But where did this big global event, this huge sales thing, actually come from? Let’s check out the real Black Friday origins.

How Thanksgiving Got Us Here: The Pre-Discount Days

Before the mad dash for deals? There was just Thanksgiving. It’s this super old American holiday. A tradition dating way back to the 17th-century harvest feasts. You know, when those early English colonists and the Wampanoag tribe near Plymouth, Massachusetts, shared grub. It was all about being thankful for the year’s harvest. Turkey and gratitude, basically. But, early on, it wasn’t a national holiday. So, a national day of thanks was tricky. Separation of church and state, and all that.

Took almost a century for things to shake out. And a massive Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, finally said the last Thursday of November would be a national Thanksgiving day. Big move. He hoped it would unite a broken nation. A spiritual rallying cry, kinda. Post-war, the tradition just… came and went.

And another thing: Fast forward 78 years to 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially made Thanksgiving a national holiday, always the last Thursday of November. Boom. A whole holiday vibe settled in, and naturally, people had time off. They hit the stores, big time. Shoppers, buzzing from the holiday spirit and new free time, started giving the economy a serious boost. The first seeds of a huge shopping day? Planted.

So, “Black Friday” – Where’d That Name Come From?

When did “Black Friday” actually get its name? It’s not straightforward. See, “black” in history usually means bad news. Think “Black Thursday” (1929 stock market crash). Or “Black Monday” (1987 global market collapse). Definitely not good times.

The first “Black Friday” had absolutely nothing to do with buying stuff. On September 24, 1869, the U.S. gold market crashed. Another rotten “black” incident. And, yeah, there were quiet whispers about “Black Friday” maybe meaning slave auctions after Thanksgiving. Or employers grumbling about workers calling in sick to make a long weekend. But most historians just shrug those off.

But two ideas really took hold. They show how things can change. One idea is about accounting books. You know, before computers. Losses were in red ink. Profits in black. For many stores, the post-Thanksgiving rush was when they’d finally make enough money to be profitable for the year. They’d go “into the black.” Makes total sense.

The most popular idea, though? It comes from our coast – well, the other coast. Philadelphia in the 1960s. That city hosted the huge Army-Navy football game every year. The Saturday after Thanksgiving was game day. So, crowds, shoppers, football fans—everyone just descended on the city on Friday. Mayhem. Police worked hella overtime directing cars and handling the crush of people. They started calling that day “Black Friday” because they were just so fed up.

Retailers, on the flip side? They loved all the people. Sales went through the roof! They even tried to rename it. Maybe “Big Friday”? But the police’s “Black Friday” just stuck. Within a couple of decades, that term had totally spread beyond Philly.

“Black” Used to Mean Bad News. Now? It’s All About Deals

It’s just a weird twist. For ages, if an event got “black” tacked on? Disaster. Big stock market crashes like Black Thursday were total nightmares. Days everyone remembered because of huge financial ruin. So much hunger and societal upheaval.

Such a crazy difference today, right? What with “Black Friday” today meaning tons of money, awesome discounts, excited customers. The bad vibe has completely flipped! It’s kinda funny how a word that once meant big losses now means getting a sweet deal. Or at least the hope of one.

The Big Push: “Black Friday” Goes Global in the 80s

By the 1980s, stores everywhere grabbed onto “Black Friday.” It became this signal for discounts. That one day could seriously save a business. Hitting sales goals that might otherwise take months. Stores started opening way earlier. Pushing those opening times. Sometimes even Thanksgiving night itself! Shoppers went with it. The excitement just grew.

Before long, Black Friday wasn’t just one day. It turned into a weekend thing. Then a whole “Black Friday Week!” And now, it’s pretty much all of “Black November.” Companies kept shouting about “once-in-a-lifetime deals.” Made everybody feel like they had to buy RIGHT NOW. People, desperate for impossible savings, started camping outside stores. Overnight. What began as a headache for Philadelphia cops grew into a huge global retail thing.

And another thing: Here’s a little secret from the retail folks: those “impossible” deals? Totally possible. Because of bulk sales, usually. Companies take a smaller profit on each item, sure. But they sell tons of them. It’s called volume sales, and that’s how those registers keep ringing “into the black.”

The Sad Turn: When Getting a Deal Goes Too Far

But all that intense shopping has a dark side. Going after deals can turn ugly. Crowds? They equal chaos. Wanting a specific thing can push people too far. There are even websites that track all the awful stuff that’s happened. Simply heartbreaking.

The numbers are pretty grim: at least 17 known deaths and 125 injuries linked to Black Friday sales. And that’s just the stuff that got reported. The first widely known death was an employee at a Long Island Walmart. Trampled by a stampede of shoppers on Black Friday morning. Horrible. Another incident saw two men shot dead after their wives apparently fought over a toy at a Toys R Us.

It’s not just fights in stores. Sleep-deprived shoppers. Driving home after all-night waits and big shopping trips. Tragic road accidents happen. While California hasn’t seen as many reported deaths, this whole crazy cultural thing is totally obvious. Even in other countries, where they call it “Legendary November” or “Blessed Friday” to ditch the bad “black” part, fights over bargains are common. Huge reminder: a deal is never worth getting hurt. Seriously, put your safety first, always.

So, there it is. The real lowdown on the day we either love, hate, or just try to get through. You might snag a sweet deal on something new. But that credit card statement in January? That’s a whole other historical event.

Quick Questions, Quick Answers

Q: Why’d they call it “Black Friday”?

A: Most folks think it goes back to Philadelphia police in the 1960s. They used the term for the crazy crowds and traffic that took over the city after Thanksgiving. Another popular idea is that businesses finally got “into the black” – meaning making a profit, not losing money – during these holiday sales.

Q: When did Black Friday get big, nationwide?

A: Well, the term started in Philadelphia in the 60s. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that stores everywhere in the U.S. really adopted “Black Friday” for big sales. From there, it just blew up into a longer shopping season. And then a whole global thing.

Q: Was “Black Friday” always about shopping?

A: Nope, not at all! The first time “Black Friday” was ever recorded was September 24, 1869. That was about the U.S. gold market crashing. Totally unrelated. And really bad. Historically, “black” in an event name usually meant something turbulent or disastrous.