What happened to Black Friday shopping? Black Friday was once a major, one-day event. People would arrive before dawn at stores like Best Buy and Walmart to find the best deals on gifts for the holiday season, and news outlets would report stories of nationwide chaos sprung from the day’s ongoings. Yet, in recent years, with the threat of COVID and the rise of online shopping, Black Friday has not been as eventful.
Photo courtesy of Anne D’Innocenzio via Associated Press.
Originating in the 19th century, Black Friday began when retailers, such as Macy’s, organized Thanksgiving parades to kick off the holiday season. Commencing these parades, stores would begin their holiday sales and by the early 1900s, the practice of holiday shopping after Thanksgiving spread nationwide.
Photo courtesy of Town & Country.
It was because of these sales that Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Traditionally, starting with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President during the Great Depression in 1933,there were five Thursdays that November. This meant that Thanksgiving would be celebrated later than normal, thus delaying holiday shopping by one week.
This was especially devastating news to shopkeepers, who desperately needed the money from their holiday sales. Throughout the next few years, Thanksgiving was celebrated the traditional way until 1939 when yet again, Thanksgiving was scheduled on the fifth Thursday.
Photo courtesy of Etiquetteer.
However, that year, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving a week earlier, on November 23, to extend the holiday shopping season. This change confused and even divided Americans, with many calling this newfangled celebration date, “Franksgiving.”
Two years later, on December 26, 1941, Congress passed Public Law 77-379, which officially recognized Thanksgiving as “an annual Federal Holiday” to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
Why is it called Black Friday? Black Friday’s name originated in Philadelphia in the 1950s, when the city typically held an Army vs. Navy football game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In preparation for the game, the day before on Friday, large crowds of people would arrive in the city, which increased sales in the city’s shops.
Since crowds were so massive and difficult to control, police dubbed the chaotic day, “Black Friday,” referencing a term used to describe a dreadful event that originated during a 19th century economic downturn.
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From the 1950s onward, Black Friday has been noted as being the busiest shopping day in the United States, characterized by lines of people waiting, some spending the night, in front of stores to find the best deals on holiday gifts.
“I’m nervous because of the crowds and people,” said DSC student and Bath and Body Works employee, Mackenzie Atwell. “Where I work, at Tanger Outlets, the sales are going to be very busy.”
In recent years, with the rise of online shopping, Black Friday has become more accessible for shoppers who cannot get to stores. This has allowed online shoppers to have equal access to many of the same deals, and with some online retailers, even greater deals.
Lately, the trend of “Black November,” an umbrella term for the plethora of month-long sales leading up to and following Black Friday and subsequent sales, like Cyber Monday, has become standard for many retailers, both brick-and-mortar and online.
This year, Wisernotify predicts that, “64% of consumers will shop online this Black Friday, with 36% seeking deals on social media.”
Photo by Samantha Sibayan.
Throughout its history, Black Friday has left an indelible mark on America. From its beginnings in department store parades in the 1800s to the month-long sales we can access from our own homes, for many, Black Friday is a time-honored tradition to kick off the holiday season.