Questions about Black Friday (shopping)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the origin of the name Black Friday shopping day?
The name Black Friday has multiple origins. Philadelphia police and Rochester police used the term in the 1950s-1960s to describe the crowds and traffic congestion that accompanied the start of the Christmas shopping season. In the early 1980s, merchants promoted an alternative explanation: that retailers moved from operating "in the red" (at a loss) to "in the black" (at a profit) starting on this day, with the earliest published reference to this accounting explanation appearing in The Philadelphia Inquirer on the 28th of November 1981.
What was the Black Friday of 1869 in American history?
The Black Friday of 1869 was a financial crisis caused when financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market using connections to the Ulysses S. Grant administration. President Grant ordered the Treasury to release a large supply of gold, causing prices to drop by 18% in a single day. Fortunes were made and lost, and the president's own brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, was ruined.
When did Black Friday first appear in print as a term for post-Thanksgiving shopping?
The earliest known use of "Black Friday" to describe the day after Thanksgiving appeared in the journal Factory Management and Maintenance in November 1951, where it referred to workers calling in sick to create a four-day weekend. The New York Times first used the phrase to describe shopping on the 29th of November 1975, still referring specifically to Philadelphia.
Why did President Roosevelt move Thanksgiving in 1939?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a presidential proclamation in 1939 moving Thanksgiving from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday, shifting it as much as a week earlier in some years. The explicit goal was to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, giving retailers more time to sell before December 25. Congress later reinforced this change by law.
What happened at the 2008 Black Friday Walmart trampling in Valley Stream?
A crowd of approximately 2,000 shoppers gathered outside a Walmart in Valley Stream, New York, waiting for the 5 a.m. opening on Black Friday 2008. When the doors opened, the crowd pushed forward, broke the door down, and 34-year-old employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death. The National Retail Federation stated it was not aware of any prior circumstance in which a retail employee had died working on the day after Thanksgiving.
How is Black Friday called in Muslim-majority countries?
In Egypt, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates, Black Friday was renamed White Friday when it was introduced, due to religious, traditional, and cultural reasons. In Pakistan, the event is called Blessed Friday. In Saudi Arabia, a local e-commerce platform created the Yellow Friday Sale as an annual alternative.