While some are busy preparing turkey and pies for Thanksgiving, thousands of shoppers are now going in for the kill for the Black Friday. What everybody knows about Black Friday is that it is the day when many discount sale and deals are being offered.
But where exactly did it come from and how did it start? Here are some interesting and surprising facts about this special day.
1. According to BBC News, the term "Black Friday" came from the stock market crashes in the 1800s.
However, Today I Found Out dismisses this claim as a myth. It noted that the "Black Friday" stock market scare did not even happen in November. It took place in September 1869. It also said that the term did not come from the stock market crash in 1929 as it happened on a Tuesday and not on a Friday.
2. "Black Friday" started in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Although it was not yet called "Black Friday" then, people have already been pushed to spend and shop the Friday after Thanksgiving as early as the late 19th Century, Today I Found Out said. The popular Macy's and Eaton's parades have also been made during these years. These parades serve as the shops' advertisements in time for the Christmas season. More and more stores then have used this period to unleash their holiday advertisements.
3. Former President Franklin Roosevelt is involved.
Who would have thought that then President Franklin Roosevelt was also involved in this shopping day? The Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the start for the Christmas shopping season as early as 1930s. That time, Thanksgiving was being celebrated during the last Thursday of the month of November. Since there were times that the last Thursday of the month falls as the fifth Thursday of the month, some retailers and shoppers have complained of the shorter length for shopping. Thus, President Roosevelt in 1939 declared to move Thanksgiving to the second to the last Thursday of November. However, Today I Found Out said it only lasted for two years.
BBC said that after Roosevelt's decision to move the special day, many called it as "Franksgiving" instead of Thanksgiving. It was only in 1941 when Congress decided to move back to the fourth Thursday of November.
4. The term "Black Friday" was first used in Philadelphia.
The term was finally coined in the 1960s. The term was first used by police officers and bus and taxi drivers who hated that day due to the traffic and amount of people outside.
Today I Found Out cited a write up by Bonnie Taylor-Black of the American Dialect Society dated January 1966 which said, "'Black Friday' is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. "Black Friday" officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing."
5. Big Friday?
BBC News said that there was also a time when the day was called Big Friday. It said that since some of the retailers hated being linked to traffic, they tried to rename it to "Big Friday." It however did not last.
6. What is "Friday-after-Thanksgiving-itis"?
In 1951, another term associated to the shopping season was also derived. The term is "Friday-after-Thanksgiving-itis." It refers to the disease that people, especially retailers' employees get the day after the shopping day. It claimed that during those years, many employees tend to miss and go absent the day after the holiday. According to Pymnts.com, since most retailers are not paying its employees who absent the day after the holiday, some employees are claiming to be sick to be excused.
7. The term "Black Friday" become known in the 1990s.
8. Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year.
This was declared by Today I Found Out. It noted that the Saturday before Christmas is usually the biggest shopping day of the year. It may also be the Thursday or Friday before Christmas when the special day falls on a weekend.
9. Every year, almost 135 million people shop on Black Friday, Today I Found Out revealed.
10. Most shoppers are buying electronic devices.
More than half of shoppers, Today I Found Out said, are interested in buying electronic devices. A total of 48 percent of people, on the other hand, are shopping for clothes.