The History of Black Friday
What comes to mind when you hear “Black Friday”? Do you get excited? Or do you get stressed thinking about the hectic lines, the immense amount of people, or your favorite products being low in stock. For most of us, it’s a mixed bag of emotions of either excitement, stress, or maybe even annoyance that surfaces without fail on every Friday after Thanksgiving. Most of us have probably experienced feeling stressed waiting in those long lines or anxious standing in a room of crowded people searching for good deals. On the other hand, you might be one of those people that loves the excitement of staying up until 11:59 for the doors to open. Whichever feeling comes to mind, have you ever wondered why Black Friday is this crazy annual event that affects everyone’s individual lives in some way? Very few of us know the history of how it all started and we are here to tell you that it didn’t start randomly. Like many days that we now observe as some kind of tradition, originally, Black Friday was not a day full of great sales and crowded stores, but a day that actually caused a lot of financial turmoil in the late 1800s.
In general, most people think the term “Black Friday” was coined because it was a day that retailers' accounts went from red to black, but the term’s history is actually more complicated than that. Initially, the term “Black Friday'' didn't have anything to do with actual shopping. For starters, in the late 1800s, two stock brokers on Wall Street decided they would buy up as much gold as they possibly could and then sell it for a profit. While they successfully pulled off their plan, unfortunately, the stock market crashed and everyone was suddenly broke. If you guessed that it happened on a Friday, you are right!
Many years later, in 1941 to be exact, a law was passed that said Thanksgiving would be on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It was at that time that a funny coincidence started to happen. Many people would call out of work the day after Thanksgiving to extend their holiday and get ahead on some Christmas shopping. Businesses around the country started to catch on and eventually the day after Thanksgiving became a paid day off. Because of this, more and more people started heading out to the stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Though the history of Black Friday was forming, it didn’t have a name until the 1970s. The Philadelphia police department came up with this term to describe the inevitable day that always comes after Thanksgiving every year. They called it “Black Friday” because the day after Thanksgiving always seemed to bring so much chaos, like a lot of traffic and an increase in shoplifters who use the day as an excuse to try to get away with stealing. Eventually, so many people started using the term that it nationally caught on, but somehow the connection that remained tried and true was that of shopping the day after Thanksgiving to prepare for the holidays and to express love to those we love. Overtime, it became the most notorious day for shoppers and deal hunters. Stores release great deals on products just in time for consumers who are getting ready for the holidays as well as those who have been waiting for opportunities to purchase items they were otherwise not able to purchase.
As a business, we obviously partake of all the festivities that come with Black Friday, but we did think it was interesting how it all started and wanted to share that with you if you happen to be as curious as we were! Our Black Friday will last from 12:00am November 26 all the way through Cyber Monday at 11:59pm and we are as excited about it as we hope you all are! Use the code BLACKFRIDAY15 at checkout for 15% off of your purchase and have fun doing it!
The sale applies to all shoes including our Fashion with a Cause and Black Lives Matter Collection which we typically never discount. That said, if you find yourself wanting to be more generous than usual, you might want to consider forgoing the discount when it comes to those two collections, as a way to give that 15% to the cause instead! That way they get 35% of the profits instead of the usual 20%. Just one easy way to give back while you enjoy your shopping activities and all the joys that come with them! Happy shopping and more importantly, Happy Black Friday!
