Each Friday after Thanksgiving, people all around the America wake up at the crack of dawn to grab the best deals on their favorite items. The first use of Black Friday was used in the 1840s. When the economy crashed due to the overuse of gold all of the gold was used up and there was no economy in place. This caused the stocks to go red. After this nationwide crash, we needed a way to get the economy back up and running.
The name ‘Black Friday’ comes from a variety of places; in the economic portion it’s called Black Friday because by decreasing the price of the items, the amount of customers will increase bringing the stocks back to black.
While in the community portion the name ‘Black Friday’ is not so positive. On Black Friday 2017, police officer Walker of Clarksburg Police Department says, “People need to be aware there are going to be issues during this 48-hour time period of shopping, it’s the holiday season, be prepared for it.” In today’s society Black Friday is stampedes, fighting to get the last waffle iron, and overall chaos.
The idea of starting the Black Friday shopping after Thanksgiving dates back to the 1800s when many stores sponsored the Thanksgiving parade. After sponsoring, they lost some business, bringing the idea of having a discounted shopping day to bring their business up. As word got out about discount shopping the Friday after Thanksgiving, business asked President Roosevelt to push Thanksgiving back a week so the discount shopping could start early.
Businesses were also aware of all the extra people coming to town for the Army-Navy football game played on the following Friday after Thanksgiving. Business looked at this as a way to lure in family’s before they went home after their gatherings.
Black Friday as we know it is a day to grab the deals on the highly priced things we love, but it has come a long way from the 1800s.
