Year after year, millions across the world wake up before sunrise to wait in front of stores. For as long as many can remember, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been dedicated to shopping. What is known as Black Friday is an opportunity to get all-time low prices on everyday items. Traditionally, every year, millions are sparked to go shopping to get in-store deals along with online deals.
While Black Friday is filled with excitement and savings, its origins are more complicated. While the origin of Black Friday is not completely known, many have a few guesses about where it originated.
One of the first usages of the term Black Friday was in 1869 to describe a financial crash. (Pruitt, 1). In this year, Wall Street financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk attempted to take control of the gold market in the United States. Their idea was to buy a surplus amount of gold, causing the price to rise. After they planned to sell the gold for a higher price due to the price rise. This allowed them to make a profit.
However, their plan didn’t last for long. They were shut down, causing a massive financial crash known as Black Friday. Some others suggest that black friday originated as a discounted prices to purchase slaves when it was still legal. However, this is not proven true, and other origin stories make more sense.
A century after Gould and Fisk attempted to take control of the gold market, “Black Friday” appeared again. In the 1960s, the term was derived from police officers describing the chaos of all the shopping. The commotion of black friday caused many traffic jams and dilemmas that caused a nuisance to the police officers. (Britannica).
The idea behind Black Friday is that for one day, companies would lower their prices substantially. So many would see these low prices, and they would take advantage of them. Because so many people went out to buy products, the companies ended up gaining money instead of losing it.
Over the years, Black Friday has changed a lot; however, its ability to bring great prosperity to companies has remained true. According to PBS News, Black Friday is a great way to encourage shoppers to come out to stores to purchase online. Throughout the years, Black Friday has continuously energized shoppers and kicked off the holiday shopping season.
Due to modern evolutionary technology influencing the usage of online shopping, many shoppers have turned away from in-store shopping. This has changed the typical shopping form for Black Friday.
Black Friday used to be defined by sprinting into stores, standing before opening hours at sunrise to get first grabs on items. It was a day filled with traffic, long lines, and fights over products. But the increasing use of technology has allowed shoppers to avoid the problems while still receiving the same discounts.
As Black Friday has shifted over to online shopping, Black Friday has become longer than a day. Many companies have extended their discounts from one day to nearly a whole month. This has led many to start referring to Black Friday as Black November. (NBC News).
That being said, it has been way easier to get ahead on holiday shopping and get good deals. It is highly encouraged to step in on the easy shopping of Black Friday, as it is so much easier to access products.
Black Friday is a great time to buy more expensive items. It is the perfect time to get new deals on electronics such as phones and computers, along with many items such as vacuum cleaners. The date starts the holiday shopping season, making it a perfect time to get gifts for others and to prepare for the upcoming holidays.
It is a great time to look around the house and find deals to replace old items. With the help of technology, these discounts can be found throughout the month.
