Black Friday (The Friday after Thanksgiving)

The history of Black Friday began in 1966. This is when a story appeared in an ad in The American Philatelist. The Philadelphia Police Department used the name to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the downtown stores.

Black Friday has been the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season since the 1930s. In fact, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week during the Great Depression because retailers wanted an extra week of shopping revenue. This pleased retailers, but irritated shoppers, who had to change plans.  It was originally called Black Friday because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence.  Black Friday is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving. 

Black Friday is also the day after Thanksgiving. It officially kicked off the holiday shopping season, as 226 million shoppers hit stores and online adds during the Black Friday Weekend. In just three days, they spent $52.4 billion, 16% more than Black Friday 2010, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). This is important for retailers because just about 20% of their sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas. For some retailers, such as jewelers, it's even higher -- nearly 40%.

This was first recorded in 1966 by Earl Apfelbaum, a dealer in rare stamps. In his ad, he 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." The Police Department coined the phrase to describe the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrian and auto traffic in the Center City downtown area. (Source: The Chicago Tribune, "Black Friday - Why and When?)

On this particular day, All the stores have lots of sales, people start shopping early waiting in long lines and the malls all over are packed with people.  Some people map out that day so not to miss the sales and they take the day off not to miss out on the great bargains.

From Google search/ Posted by Mags