Black Friday has been one of the biggest shopping events all over the world, during the last
several years. The history of this day is often misunderstood, and unknown by many. The Balck
Friday craze that we are all used to now was much different many years ago when the
expression was first introduced. Today I will shed some light on the history behind Black Friday,
and why it is so important to understand it.
How it all started
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, which is a typical American religious event where
family members get together and celebrate being thankful. It is a ritual of appreciation towards
what we have in life. Black Friday seems to be the exact opposite, and it is coincidentally a day
when most realize that they need something more. For many years, the day after Thanksgiving,
before it was called Black Friday, would be the start of the Christmas shopping season.
The origins of the term Black Friday are coincidentally very similar to what we have today. It
included a large number of shoppers lining up to enter a store. Times were different but human
nature was not. The first use of the expression “Black Friday” goes back to the late 1950s in
Philadelphia. Police would use the term to describe the large number of customers shopping
around after Thanksgiving day. A large number of shoppers created such chaos, that the
Philadelphia police department started using the term Black Friday to describe that day of the
year.
Black Friday was the day when most people would start their Christmas shopping, and it still
remains to this day.
Why the name Black Friday?
Today I will shed some light on the history behind Black Friday, and why it is so important to
understand it. Despite the efforts of shop owners in Philadelphia to change the name to “Big
Friday”, it never got enough traction. Their goal was to end the negative connotation of the
name.
The was used due to its relation with accounting. Prior to Black Friday, and the Christmas
shopping craze some retailers would incur losses. At that time losses were booked in red on the
company’s books. Black Friday simply meant that the retailers were now making a profit,
therefore marking the numbers with black.
Black Friday goes global
Since the late 1990s, some businesses started paying attention to this American tradition of
shopping right after Thanksgiving. In order to increase their sales, Black Friday started to be
adopted all over the world. Businessmen promoted the day as the ultimate shopping
experience. Low prices and high discounts continue to attract mobs of shoppers, looking to get
the best discounts of the year. In some parts of the world, Black Friday is as important as in the
US or even more. However, in some other parts, it is just one more day. This adoption did not go
the same for every country. Countries like Canada, Germany, Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK
are the biggest adopters of Black Friday.
Black Friday and the maniac consumerism
Endless lines of customers that wait for hours in front of stores have now become the norm. The
neverending consumerism craze that affects us has been too much at this point. We have
become completely obsessed with material items and buying everything we can. Black Friday is
just a huge reflection of this. In a way, we try to compensate for our unhappiness and discontent
with material things but it does not work. It might work for a short period of time. It is normal to
feel a slight rush when we purchase something, but the feeling fades away. Continuing to
acquire things just for the sake of it, or to try to fix our problems is a never-ending rabbit hole
that only takes our money away and leaves our houses cluttered.
It is important to have some things in life, in fact, we should have things that we use and
treasure. Owning things just for owning, can become a serious obsession, and it is not healthy.
Cluttering our houses with items we will never use also clutters our heads, and leaves no space
for ourselves.
Excessive consumption
The epitome of this excessive consumption can be viewed as shoppers waiting for ours, in the
night waiting for the stores to open. Once inside they will fight with whoever is necessary in
order to make sure that they bring home the items they so desire. A plentiful waste of time and
energy that could be put to better use elsewhere.
We have become a society that is increasingly more driven by consumerism, which leaves me
sad. In the end, it doesn’t matter what you have, because that is not what life is about. It is about
creating the right experiences with the ones you love. Having them by your side and cherishing
them until the end. Material things come and go, and our happiness should not depend on them.
Black Friday goes online
Today, and especially due to the pandemic, Black Friday has become a much more online
event. With thousands of different stores trying to offer the best possible prices to drive up sales.
The lockdowns and restrictions have also pushed us into revenge spending. This leads us to
spend more than what we would because we had a prolonged time where we could not spend
any money at all.
I sincerely hope you find the best deals this Black Friday, and that your discounts are as big as
possible.
LOVE M
