Why Is It Called ‘Black Friday’? The History Behind The YUGE Shopping Event

black friday

With Black Friday – one of the biggest retail events in the calendar year – mere hours away, you’ve likely been bombarded with information about the best online shopping deals to save yourself some hefty dollarydoos.

From your favourite fashion labels, to tech and even travel companies, a load of Australian retailers are starting to get in on the thrifty American tradition.

Speaking of which:

But, in a country where the term ‘Black Friday’ has very different connotations, it’s worthing asking ‘why is it called Black Friday?’

For Aussies, the term refers to one of the darkest days in our country’s history, with 71 people losing their lives in deadly bushfires on January the 13th, 1939. In the aftermath of the fateful event, a plethora of policy changes were put in place to avoid such catastrophic devastation from bushfires going forward.

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But this is all a world away from a global shopping bonanza. So why do the Americans call it ‘Black Friday’?

Well, there are two main theories behind how it got its name.

The first explanation comes from the land of economics where being ‘in the black’ refers to making profit, while being ‘in the red’ means a company’s made a loss.

This distinction is born out of the colour ink used to record profit margins/losses before the time of computers.

Not surprisingly, on a day with such high retail turnover, it makes a lot of sense for Black Friday to be named after the significant financial retail gains.

The second possible reason – which is commonly regarded as the ‘true’ origin of the term – comes from the Philadelphia Police Department, the home of Black Friday.

Back in the day, the cops used the name to describe the congestion and mayhem in downtown Philadelphia on the day following Thanksgiving.

Black Friday symbolises the first day of the Christmas shopping season, attracting huge crowds, packed stores and, at times, even violence. Yikes.

So there you have it folks: Black Friday, as a shopping event, somewhat demystified.

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