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The history of Black Friday in America: we figure out where the legs of the holiday come from, and why it got such a creepy name .
Early morning. Through the transparent doors of the store you can see the faces of people literally imprinted into them. A huge crowd is pressing in from behind. Many who were in the forefront arrived here at night.
Inside, several people in beautiful salesmen's costumes are standing at the door. "Ready?" - asks one of them. The doors open and a stream of people rush inside. Most of them run.
No, this is not a zombie apocalypse. This is how a typical “Black Friday” passes in America - the day when the Christmas shopping season begins. In the United States, Black Friday immediately follows Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
This tradition arose many decades ago, and today it has spread almost throughout the world. To be honest, in the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten pretty tired of the phrase “Black Friday”. Black Fridays took place for many information businessmen; they were talked about in every second issue of newsletters that bombarded my unfortunate mailbox. “Black Fridays” were all over the billboards in my city, and many companies organized entire “black weeks.”
In general, I decided to prepare an article about what kind of Friday this is, how it appeared, and why it is “black”.
History of the name Black Friday
Cunning gold buyers, riots in Philadelphia and the dark history of American slave traders .
The day when stores are “black”
Most often you can hear the story of the origin of Black Friday in America, according to which Retail Stores In the financial statements, profits were marked in black ink, and losses in red. Some stores operate at a loss almost the entire year - “in the red”, and only on the day of the start of Christmas shopping they “go into the black”, making big profits due to huge discounts. Naturally, such a day becomes a real holiday for the store.
The version with red and black ink is officially recognized, but it is not the only one. The rest are much more in line with the dark symbolism of the color black.
Two insatiable financiers
In August 1869, two eager easy profit American financier and managers railway, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, decided to artificially provoke a rise in prices. They began to buy all the gold they could get their hands on. They believed that this would increase the cost precious metal, as a result, grain prices will rise and the demand for its transportation will increase, which means it will be possible to increase railway tariffs.
But the plan of the greedy financiers was unraveled. On Friday, September 24, 1896, the US Treasury unexpectedly entered the gold market, and as a result, the price of the precious metal collapsed. Not to say that this ruined Gould and Fisk, but the former received many lawsuits, and the latter was shot dead on the street. This is how the term “Black Friday” was first used. True, this happened in September, not in November.
The darkest story of Black Friday
The most unpleasant story of the Black Friday holiday is also one of the youngest and most dubious. It says that back in the 1800s, immediately after Thanksgiving, American slave traders sold black slaves at deep discounts. The version has no damage and is most likely a myth created by opponents of the sales in an effort to boycott them.
Philadelphia version
In the 1950s, Philadelphia police dubbed "Black Friday" a day when riots occurred in the city. The day after Thanksgiving was the annual big football game, and Philadelphia was inundated with fans and tourists. There were mass riots on the streets, and thieves decided to take advantage of the situation and rob stores. On this day, many police officers were unable to take the long-awaited day off; moreover, law enforcement officers had to work under increased pressure.
For a long time, the phrase “Black Friday” in Philadelphia had a negative connotation. At one time, sellers even tried to replace it with “Big Friday”.
Virtual Black Friday
With the advent of online shopping, Black Friday shopping has become much more boring and comfortable. It is no longer necessary to participate in a mass zombie race. And it has become much more convenient to search for the necessary goods (yes, it may seem that distraught people are grabbing the first thing that comes up from the shelves, but in fact, each of them thought well about what they wanted to buy a couple of months ago).
There is no need to fight for the TV or washing machine and find out who came to the shelf first. If you are ahead of you and the desired product is no longer available, a person will immediately see this in the virtual store and will be able to continue searching elsewhere.
That's all I wanted to tell you about the history of American Black Fridays. I hope you found it interesting. If someone smartly tells me that discounts don't work, I find and play videos from American stores on the fourth Friday of November. Everything is working. People just don’t like it when the seller greatly increases the price and immediately gives a 15% discount. In general, people don’t like it when people openly try to deceive them. Discounts must be formulated and presented correctly. How? Consultation with a copywriter-marketer will help you.
During the period of a grandiose sale called Black Friday, the coolest sales are traditionally held. In the United States and other countries, Shopaholics' Day falls on November 23 this year. There are no discounts of this magnitude and at the same time in almost all stores again in the year.
Black Friday has become a popular global event thanks to American marketers who, after Thanksgiving, increased discounts, marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, and carried out active marketing work.
At first, the concept of “Black Friday” was associated with the collapse of prices on the gold market in 1869, as well as with crises on the Wall Street stock exchanges. In addition, Friday, which fell on the 13th, was also called “Black”.
This is a well-known phrase that Americans decided to use to describe the hectic day of big discounts after Thanksgiving, which most often fell on a Friday. Christmas sales have started in stores, and shoppers are hunting for maximum benefits.
Founder of the first sales
The founder of the first sales, many years before the advent of Black Friday, is considered to be Frank Woolworth (1852–1919), who first invented sales back in late XIX century.
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an introverted guy from the outback worked as a sales assistant in a small store, where he experienced constant discomfort due to uncertain prices. Back then, there were no price tags in stores, and sellers had to resort to all sorts of tricks to find out the solvency of customers, after which they set the price of the goods. One day, taking advantage of the absence of the main seller, Woolworth decided to take a risky step. He put it next to seasonal goods"Everything for 5 cents" sign, thus organizing the first sale.
The operation was a commercial success, in the wake of which Frank Woolworth organized the largest retail chain of the early twentieth century. Its stores can be considered the ancestors of today's discounters and supermarkets.
The sellers quickly realized that by appointing constant prices on goods and “sales”, they can make a big profit during the Christmas period, when everyone is buying gifts. This is where the tradition of organizing the biggest sales immediately after Thanksgiving came from.
In 1951, the publication Factory Management and Maintenance noticed an interesting trend: after Thanksgiving, many employees went on sick leave, although in fact they simply arranged a 4-day vacation for themselves, which they spent in stores looking for discounts.
At the same time, the phrase "Black Friday" became common among Philadelphia police officers, who were shocked by the terrible traffic jams that occur annually on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
According to another available version, this day is called Black Friday, since in American accounting losses are displayed in red and profits in black. And the Friday after Thanksgiving is considered the most profitable time of the year for sellers.
Since 1966, the expression “Black Friday” has finally taken hold on the East Coast of the United States among sellers and signifies the period of the largest discounts on goods.
Black Friday Traditions
Perhaps the most interesting tradition of Black Friday is that it is considered bad form to return goods to the seller (for any reason) purchased on this day. Prices must be reduced as much as possible, the goods must be available in sufficient quantities, and before the start of the sale on the eve of Black Friday, it is forbidden to increase prices on the assortment.
According to statistics, the average American family can save anywhere from a couple hundred to several thousand dollars on Black Friday. Every year, buyers spend about $60 billion during this period. popular products include toys, clothing and electronics.
Let us note that in our country Black Friday has been organized since 2013. For example, in the domestic Black Friday four years ago, approximately 5 million people participated, and its bestsellers were electronic equipment, which was preferred by 50% of buyers, and clothing and accessories – 28% of purchases.
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It is on this day, the fourth Friday of November, that many stores start amazing sales and offer the most incredible discounts, sometimes reaching up to 90%. Black Friday 2018 falls on November 23rd.
Why is Black Friday? Where did such a gloomy name and the idea of such sales come from? It is not known for certain. There are several plausible versions. But all traces lead to the USA, to the distant 19th century.
For the first time, Black Friday marked the beginning of the financial crisis
Two cunning financiers from Wall Street, Jim Fisk (one of the founders of Broadway) and Jay Gould (former owner of Western Union), decided to buy all the gold on the exchanges in order to subsequently make exorbitant profits when selling it. But their plan was discovered, and when the price of gold reached its peak, President Ulysses Grant ordered a significant portion of government gold to be put up for auction. The market collapsed, many stockbrokers went bankrupt, including Fisk. Gould was lucky: he managed to sell his gold.
It happened on September 24, 1869, and this day was called “Black Friday.” The US economy was able to overcome the consequences of this crisis only after several months.
Loser salesman came up with discounts and made millions
Around the same time, the first sellers appeared who began to give big discounts for goods before the Christmas holidays. Americans spent a lot of money on gifts, so trade was always especially profitable before Christmas.
Frank Woolworth is considered the father of Christmas sales. In 1873, he was 21 years old and working as a sales assistant in a store in Pennsylvania. He did not work very successfully, since they had already threatened to expel him several times. Then Woolworth laid out all the stale goods on the counter and placed a sign next to it: “Everything for 5 cents.” The product was instantly sold out, and the store’s revenue that day increased 6 times.
Woolworth understood what needed to be done. He opened own store, which after 5 years grew into one of the largest retail chains, named after the owner - Woolworth's. All goods in these stores were sold for 5 or 10 cents, and sales were regularly held.
In 1913, Woolworth opened the company's headquarters in New York City, the 57-story Woolworth Building, which cost him $14 million and was the tallest building in the world until the 1930s.
Black Friday is inextricably linked with Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day in the United States is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This is a public holiday and an official day off. Since no one wanted to go to work on the Friday after the holiday, many workers took that day off or suddenly “fell ill.” Therefore, Black Friday began to be called the day on which no one wanted to work. It was truly a “rainy day” for employers.Christmas sales started on the same day, and many Americans, of course, preferred to spend this day shopping.
In 1966, the US police called such a day black because crowds of people and cars fill the streets, and it is necessary to tighten control.
According to another version, the color of this Friday is associated with the accounting tradition of marking profits in black and losses in red.
If it weren't for Roosevelt, Black Friday in 2018 would not have been November 23rd, but November 30th
Since 1864, Thanksgiving Day in the United States has been celebrated on the last Thursday of November - it could be the 4th or 5th. In 1939, Turkey Day fell on the fifth Thursday. The Great Depression continued and the economy had not yet fully recovered. And then the Christmas sales season has shortened (you remember that they started immediately after the holiday).
Then the association retailers appealed to President Franklin Roosevelt with a request to reserve the fourth Thursday of the month for the holiday. The President met halfway and issued a corresponding decree. This is how Thanksgiving Day received a second name - Franksgiving Day.
Black Friday has become a national holiday, with more than half of Americans participating.
In the 1980s, retailers decided to give the expression a more positive meaning. This is how Black Friday appeared in the form to which we are all accustomed. Attempts were made to call the day "Big Friday" to remove the negative connotations, but to no avail.
Over time, Black Friday after Thanksgiving turned into a large national holiday that spread throughout the world. Stores open earlier and earlier on this day, some at 4 or 5 in the morning, some at midnight, and some right on Thursday.
Therefore, the most desperate shopaholics rush to the shops either immediately after a festive meal, or instead of it.
Several factors contributed to the success of Black Friday. Firstly, the end of November is the time to think about gifts for Christmas and at the same time there is still time to order something online and get it delivered on time. Secondly, Friday between a holiday and a weekend is the best time to spend it shopping. More than half of Americans are participating in this discount madness.
Black Friday often lives up to its name: Many people have suffered in the war for discounts
Discounts - great way stores to attract customers and set an annual profit record. Contrary to popular belief, not only unpopular goods are sold at reduced prices, but also quite popular ones, and even new items.Typically, goods are swept off the shelves in a matter of minutes. To stir up interest and create a stir, stores offer a limited edition at an attractive price, so, as they say, the first to eat is the first to eat. There are many funny cases that customers talk about.
One man spent three nights outside a Wal-Mart with a tent, thermos and sandwiches, hoping to buy a plasma TV. When the doors opened, he was one of the first to run into the store. However, by the time he got to the department with televisions, all 15 pieces had already been snapped up by more enterprising rivals: they entered the doors that were located closer to the department and opened 10 seconds earlier.
In pursuit of profit, buyers do not shun anything. Fight over the last item? Easily! Spray pepper spray in your opponents' faces? Please! Snatch the box from the hands of someone who is luckier? With no doubt! They remember the case when two old ladies quarreled over an ordinary 10-dollar calculator that was sold at a 50% discount.
More serious incidents have also occurred, resulting in injury or even death to customers or store employees.
What do we have?
The tradition of Black Friday was picked up all over the world, and in the early 2010s it came to Russia.
Fortunately, in our country Black Friday does not have such devastating consequences as in the United States. Russia took only the most pleasant things: only discounts, only sales. And it takes place mainly on the Internet: there is no need to set up camp near the store and fight for the last product. The most pleasant discounts can also be obtained when purchasing online - for example, if you apply Citylink coupon .
According to the results of retail chain research, the best time to buy electronics and household appliances. And it will help you save even more Eldorado promo code. No one will stop us from enjoying discounts and happy shopping without leaving home.
By the way, Rospotrebnadzor warned that misleading buyers is unacceptable. The seller is obliged to clearly and clearly formulate the conditions for purchasing goods under the promotion.
It often happens that, succumbing to the hype, you buy something, and the next day you realize that you don’t need it at all. In this case, even if you purchased the product at a significant discount, you have the right to return the product you don’t like, don’t fit, or have a faulty product within 14 days, not counting the day of purchase.
« Black Friday 2018"will last for three days, including weekends, and in some stores the whole week. However, it’s still worth hurrying: the most attractive offers end first. No one can guarantee that the product you need will not be stolen from under your nose. More than half of Russians are already counting the hours until the sales start.
Millions of post-Thanksgiving-fed American shoppers head out shopping on the Friday after the holiday in hopes of saving on their Christmas shopping. A BBC reporter from New York sheds light on the history and traditions of Black Friday.
The phrase “Black Friday” refers to a stock market crash.
The term was first used in the United States on September 24, 1869, during an attempt by two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk, to monopolize the gold market on the New York stock exchange. When the government stepped in to correct the situation and added more gold, gold prices fell significantly and many investors lost fortunes.
The predecessor to Black Friday was the Santa Claus Parade.
The Americans borrowed the idea for the traditional parade from their northern neighbors. Canadian department store Eaton held its first Santa Claus Parade on December 2, 1905. The appearance of Santa was a signal that the holiday season, and therefore shopping, could be considered open. Of course, consumers were encouraged to purchase gifts at Eaton stores. American department stores such as Macy's liked the idea and sponsored similar events across the country. The first parade took place in 1924 in New York. It involved not only store employees, but also animals from the Central Park Zoo.
The date of Thanksgiving depends on the whims of shoppers.
From the mid-19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in the order established by President Lincoln: on the last Thursday of November. A funny thing happened in 1939 - this day turned out to be the last in November. Retailers are worried about the shortened holiday shopping season. Therefore, they did not come up with anything better than to submit a petition to the President - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - with a request to move the holiday a week earlier, which he did. For the next three years, Thanksgiving Day was called "Franksgiving" and was celebrated on various days throughout the country. At the end of 1941, Congress put everything in its place. Since then, Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, providing an extra week of shopping before Christmas.
First there was Big Friday
The city where the name for shopping day has become popular is Philadelphia. Police officers, irritated by the huge traffic jams caused by the influx of shoppers, gave the day a “working name”: Black Friday. Not surprisingly, traders did not like the association with traffic jams and smog. So, according to a local newspaper in 1961, they decided to change the joke name to “Big Friday.”
Black Friday was officially recognized only in the 90s
The name "Black Friday" remained a Philadelphia joke for a surprisingly long time. It was consumed by residents of the nearby town of Trenton, New Jersey, but the name was not used anywhere else outside of Philadelphia until the 1980s. The tradition became widespread only in the mid-90s.
The phrase "Black Friday" means profit
Going into the black translated from English means “to make a profit.” Merchants tried to find their own explanation for the name in order to give the statement a positive connotation, and in fact they made considerable profits. According to data from the National Federation retail, shoppers spent about $59.1 billion last year. But how much of this amount is profit is unclear (given how traders compete with each other, offering more and more promotions and better prices).
Black Friday is the biggest shopping day since 2001
Although this day is considered the most popular for shopping, it received this status only in the early 2000s. Before this, Americans' love of shopping battled their other favorite habit: procrastinating. They procrastinated to such an extent that some people went shopping on the Saturday before Christmas.
Black Friday has become an international custom
Canadian traders have long been angry that customers always go south in search of the best trade deals and goods. So now they've started offering their own sales, even though Canadian Thanksgiving is a full month early. In Mexico there is El Buen Fin, which means “good weekend”. It is tied to the anniversary of the 1910 Revolution, whose celebrations sometimes fall in the same week as American Thanksgiving.
With the development of online trading, popular online stores have chosen their own days for discounts. For example, in 2005 the world first heard about Cyber Monday, and Singles' Day recently appeared in China.
Black Friday is losing popularity
The existence of the tradition was called into question by the largest American supermarket, Wal-Mart, when in 2011 it decided to open on Thanksgiving Day. A price race among traders immediately began. At the same time, 33 million Americans said they were ready to go shopping as soon as they tried turkey.
It makes sense to call Black Friday the one day of the year when various companies organize large-scale sales in an attempt to get good profit. In some stores, discounts reach 50 and even 70%. Lots of people have already taken advantage of the biggest discounts of the season. However, the real story of Black Friday is much darker and more complex.
US stock market crash
For the first time, the term "Black Friday" was used not to describe a weekend when everyone was shopping en masse. The talk was about the financial crisis, in particular the collapse of the US gold and foreign exchange market. This happened on September 24, 1869. Two famous ruthless Wall Street financiers worked together to buy up as much gold as possible in the country, hoping to later set their own sky-high prices and make a handsome profit. However, on this Friday in September, the conspiracy was finally unraveled. Stock market fell, and everyone from Wall Street bankers to ordinary farmers went bankrupt.
New myths
But the tradition most often associates Black Friday with retail. As the story goes, after a full year of operating at a loss, the store is expected to make a profit, called a black profit, the day after Thanksgiving, which is celebrated in the United States because shoppers tend to spend a lot of money on discounted merchandise. As is known, retail companies To account for losses, the concepts of red and black profit are used. This version of the origin of the name Black Friday has been officially accepted, but it is inaccurate.
Another myth has surfaced in recent years that, as early as 1800, Southern planters could purchase slaves at a discount after Thanksgiving. This version, for obvious reasons, led to a boycott of this day, but it does not have sufficient evidence. 
Black Friday in Philadelphia
But the true story of Black Friday isn't as rosy as retailers would have you believe. In 1950, Philadelphia police used the term to describe the chaos that occurred after Thanksgiving. That day, crowds of tourists and shoppers from the suburbs headed into the city in anticipation of a significant football match, which traditionally would take place on Saturday. Not only were Philadelphia police officers unable to take their legal day off, but they also had to work overtime to control the crowds and traffic on the streets. Additional headache It was brought to law enforcement by thieves who used bedlam in stores to avoid paying for goods. 
The term continued to be used until 1961, although authorities tried to change it to Big Friday to remove the negative connotations. The term spread to the rest of the US states much later, but even in 1985 it could not be called widely used. But in the late 1980s, retailers found a way to make Black Friday associated with something positive rather than negative for their customers. The result was the red-and-black concept of the day, which was mentioned earlier, and the understanding that the day after Thanksgiving was finally profitable. Although in fact, stores make much greater profits on the Saturday before the Christmas holiday. Traditionally, on this day in America it is customary to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones and friends.
What does Black Friday mean to modern Americans?
Thus, very soon the dark Philadelphia roots of Black Friday were almost completely forgotten. Since then, one day of sales has grown into a four-day event. Sales are also held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Every year stores open earlier and earlier. The most dedicated shoppers could go shopping immediately after Thanksgiving, that is, at night. According to the National Retail Federation of America, 135.8 million Americans plan to shop the weekend after Thanksgiving this year. This figure is 58.7% of all respondents. What's more, 79.6% (183.8 million) of people said they plan to take advantage of online deals to ensure they don't miss out on Cyber Monday deals at online stores.
