# Why have I never heard the term "Black Friday" till this year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 26, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996 "2010-11-26T17:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/1 "2010-11-26T17:19:37Z")
Yeah, I’m Canadian but that’s never stopped me from knowing everything about you yanks before. 😛 Is this a relatively new term? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/2 "2010-11-26T17:22:11Z")
Not really – it’s been in common use for at least ten years, probably more. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/3 "2010-11-26T17:26:10Z")
It’s been around since the 60s. A lot of people tend to use the term with the meaning of business sales spiking that day and the books finally going “into the black”. However, it appears that the Philadelphia PD was using the term in quite a different way. > [@](#): > > 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. > **[Black Friday (shopping)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping))** > > Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and is the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. Many stores offer highly promoted sales at heavily discounted prices and often open early, sometimes as early as midnight or even on Thanksgiving. Some stores' sales continue to Monday ("Cyber Monday") or for a week ("Cyber Week"). > "Black Friday" has evolved in meaning and impact over the years, ini... ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/4 "2010-11-26T17:26:48Z")
I’ve heard about it since I was born. I’m 31. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/5 "2010-11-26T17:45:53Z")
I like the way the term is _supposed_ to mean the point at which stores move decisively into the black for the year, when what it really means is a black day for anyone working retail, or possibly a black day for anyone trying to start their Christmas shopping, ideally without getting trampled. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/6 "2010-11-26T21:02:50Z")
While it’s been around, I don’t think it’s been used as pervasively by the media as it has been the last few years. The day seems to be referred to as such at absolutely every reference, when perhaps it would only be called that in reference to shopping forecasts 10 years ago, and only by trade insiders 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/7 "2010-11-26T21:27:44Z")
And in the last few years in Canada, it’s been mentioned in Canadian media with explanation that it derives from the US Thanksgiving holiday sales. Since Canadian Thanksgiving is in early October, this would otherwise be an unremarkable November work day and weekend. I think there may be a sports-related meaning as well. I don’t follow spectator sports much, so I may be wrong. ETA: if anything, I would have thought that Black Friday was the name for the day the market crashes… ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/8 "2010-11-26T22:16:00Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > While it’s been around, I don’t think it’s been used as pervasively by the media as it has been the last few years. The day seems to be referred to as such at absolutely every reference, when perhaps it would only be called that in reference to shopping forecasts 10 years ago, and only by trade insiders 20 years ago. This is how I see it, too. The financial reporter on the news might mention it, but nobody talked about it at Thanksgiving dinner, and it wasn’t named in stores’ circulars. Of course, when I was a kid retail Christmas didn’t start on Labor Day. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/9 "2010-11-26T23:38:45Z")
Well, I’ve heard about it for years and years and years, but I suspect I may be a bit more of a shopper than you are **Leaffan**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/10 "2010-11-27T00:40:30Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And in the last few years in Canada, it’s been mentioned in Canadian media with explanation that it derives from the US Thanksgiving holiday sales. Since Canadian Thanksgiving is in early October, this would otherwise be an unremarkable November work day and weekend. > > I think there may be a sports-related meaning as well. I don’t follow spectator sports much, so I may be wrong. > > ETA: if anything, I would have thought that Black Friday was the name for the day the market crashes… The Market Crash of 1929 was Black Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/11 "2010-11-27T00:55:11Z")
> [@Hades](#): > > The Market Crash of 1929 was Black Tuesday. As was the collapse of the wheat market in April of 1872. ---
**Author:** ![mattwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mattwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattwan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/12 "2010-11-27T17:55:17Z")
Looking through the _New York Times_ archives, there was a single reference to the Philadelphia PD’s usage in 1969. After that it doesn’t seem to have appeared until 1995, after which the phrase has been used regularly. That roughly matches my memory. It seemed like in the mid-90s the phrase appeared out of nowhere and was suddenly everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/13 "2010-11-27T18:44:21Z")
It was the title of a _Steely Dan_ song, from 1975. I am not sure what the song is supposed to be about, however; probably not shopping after Thanksgiving (although it does mention removing “big red words form my little black book”). Some of the [lyrics](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/steely-dan/black-friday.html) do seem to be invoking the stock market crash, but kangaroos are also involved, somehow. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tammi\_Terrell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Tammi\_Terrell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tammi_Terrell)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/14 "2010-11-27T21:40:52Z")
> [@mattwan](#): > > Looking through the _New York Times_ archives, there was a single reference to the Philadelphia PD’s usage in 1969. Interesting. Where’s the _Times_’s reference to that 1969 usage? (Did you spot something old – like, roughly contemporaneous with 1969 – in the _Times_’s archives or is it something fairly recent?) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/15 "2010-11-27T21:49:32Z")
The closely associated phrase is “Door Buster” sales, which of course are on Black Friday. “Door Buster” seems to be in every fuckin’ Christmas ad this year. Do they _want_ people to riot in their stores? These seasonal advertising slogans are getting on my nerves almost as much as Christmas carols. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/16 "2010-11-27T21:55:16Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The closely associated phrase is “Door Buster” sales, which of course are on Black Friday. “Door Buster” seems to be in every fuckin’ Christmas ad this year. Do they _want_ people to riot in their stores? If all the rioters buy high margin items, yes. Yes, we do 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/17 "2010-11-28T03:03:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yeah, I’m Canadian but that’s never stopped me from knowing everything about you yanks before. 😛 > > Is this a relatively new term? Is there an equivalent “big day” for shopping in Canada? I never thought much about it since the US had Thanksgiving 1 month right before Christmas. What day(s) have the biggest sales there? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/18 "2010-11-28T03:14:06Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is there an equivalent “big day” for shopping in Canada? I never thought much about it since the US had Thanksgiving 1 month right before Christmas. > > What day(s) have the biggest sales there? Boxing day sale is Dec 26th. All the stuff they couldn’t sell. This is why gift cards for Christmas (from me not to me) is an excellent idea. They can get so much more for the money on Boxing day. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/19 "2010-11-28T04:06:58Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > As was the collapse of the wheat market in April of 1872. Likewise, the Black Plague killed between 30% and 60% of Europe’s population between 1348 and 1350. All of these events are related as an unfortunate side effect of a concentrated human population with too few resources to support the overall supply chain. Sometimes, it is a rat infestation starting at the Silk road in Asia and moving into Europe as with the case of the Black Plague. Now it is a shortage of supercheap cheap LCD TV’s also coming from Asia being offered at Walmart for just a few hours at flea market prices. History tends to spawn common themes with predictable results. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996/20 "2010-11-28T12:55:04Z")
I only heard that specific name within the past 5 years or so. I knew there were after-Thanksgiving sales, but they were generally called Day after Thanksgiving sales. I’m not disagreeing that the term has existed, just that I didn’t see it used, and my family has never been into that stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-i-never-heard-the-term-black-friday-till-this-year/561996.md?page=2)