Please explain "Black Friday" to a limey

[Ryotknife]

The name seemed a bit alarming to me, probably because it brought up associations with Black Tuesday, Bloody Sunday, and so on. Also, the "racially sensitive" aspect of the name was a genuine question (no, I wasn't trolling, thanks anyway buddy) - years ago I'm sure an American told me that "saying blackboard is racist" and the notion stuck.

Okay, that part is an exaggeration/hyperbole. Pretty much all Americans know its an exaggeration/hyperbole, but he should have known better than to say that to a non-American without explaining.

Its like someone saying "you cant throw a rock in NYC without hitting at least 5 pizzerias"

Besides I don't think blackboards are used anymore in the US. From what teachers tell me its mostly whiteboard or smartboards. Although I recently found out that GT (gifted and talented) got its name changed because people were worried that it would upset children who weren't GT.

 

[revjor]

Is there any kind of cultural significance to the event, i.e. the date or the name? Is it just coincidence that it's near Thanksgiving? Seems to me the shops would want to hike up the prices ahead of Christmas...

Okay here is an Honest answer to you're question rather than a bunch of people who don't understand basic economics, sneering at capitalism

The name "Black Friday" comes from an accounting term. If your books in the "Red" you're loosing money. If they are in the "Black" you're making money. The name comes from the fact that due to sales volume the Friday after US thanksgiving is the best time of year to get you're books in the black for the quarter.

Also if you think that it's the best time to hike prices than you don't understand one of the most important concepts of Capitalism. The Invisible Hand of Competition.
Black Friday is all about sales volume, getting people in stores to buy things, and sales are the best way to do that. If Alice is selling Widgets for £5 and Bob is selling them for £3 where do you shop. So stores offer the outright best sales of the year to entice shoppers to come to their stores rather than their competition. On Black Friday it is not uncommon to see things on sale for something like %80 off.

The name originally was a Philadelphia Police nickname for the day referring to how bad of a day it was for public workers like cops and bus drivers. The name is a reference to the first Black Friday when Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market in 1869 causing an economic crisis. Throughout the 60's and 70's it was always a reference to the madness of the day. In the first recorded use of the term for the day after Thanksgiving is an article in '61 about a Philly PR guy suggesting changing the name to Big Friday to give the day a better reputation.

1961 - "For downtown merchants throughout the nation, the biggest shopping days normally are the two following Thanksgiving Day. Resulting traffic jams are an irksome problem to the police and, in Philadelphia, it became customary for officers to refer to the post-Thanksgiving days as Black Friday and Black Saturday. Hardly a stimulus for good business, the problem was discussed by the merchants with their Deputy City Representative, Abe S. Rosen, one of the country's most experienced municipal PR executives. He recommended adoption of a positive approach which would convert Black Friday and Black Saturday to Big Friday and Big Saturday."

It didn't work.
1966 - "JANUARY 1966 ? "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."

It wasn't until '81 that we have the first published instance of Black Friday referring to the accounting practice of using black ink.

"If the day is the year's biggest for retailers, why is it called Black Friday? Because it is a day retailers make profits ? black ink, said Grace McFeeley of Cherry Hill Mall. "I think it came from the media," said William Timmons of Strawbridge & Clothier. "It's the employees, we're the ones who call it Black Friday," said Belle Stephens of Moorestown Mall. "We work extra hard. It's a long hard day for the employees."

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

So, people working in Retail started calling it "Black Friday" because it was the worst day to work retail each year due to how busy it was. What with people screaming, fighting, trampling, and stabbing each other over cheap Chinese TVs.

Except that I didn't SAY that. The text in bold is NOT mine, and I am unhappy to having it attributed to me. Please edit your post and don't put words that I didn't say in my mouth.

Thank you.

 

[option1soul]

So, people working in Retail started calling it "Black Friday" because it was the worst day to work retail each year due to how busy it was. What with people screaming, fighting, trampling, and stabbing each other over cheap Chinese TVs.

Except that I didn't SAY that. The text in bold is NOT mine, and I am unhappy to having it attributed to me. Please edit your post and don't put words that I didn't say in my mouth.

Thank you.

That was legitimately a joke ^_^ considering the next sentence I mentioned working at Best Buy they were obviously tied together. But I see how that was rude and it's been edited.

 

[Johnny Impact]

You're better off not understanding. Hell, I live here and I don't understand it. But, since you ask:

Thanksgiving is held on the last Thursday in November. The day after is traditionally a heavy Christmas shopping day. Rampant consumerism and commercialism has blown this tradition so far out of proportion that it is now an insane parody of itself. People camp in front of stores for literally days, stab each other over parking spaces......it's like a demonic game show.