Black Friday 2023: History, Significance And Why People Celebrate It After Thanksgiving Day

In the United States of America, Black Friday is referred to as the day following Thanksgiving. Have you wondered why the day next to such an auspicious festival is referred to as Black Friday? We bring you the history and significance of this day along with unheard facts that will leave you astonished.

Black Friday History

Thanksgiving Day is the day of Santa Claus parades in which people dressed as Santa Claus arrive at the end of each parade, and people shout ‘Santa has arrived’. It marks the beginning of the holiday season, and people rejoice because Christmas is around the corner. 

According to reports, Christmas parades were sponsored by departmental stores in the US in the late 19th and early 20th century. The day after the celebration of Thanksgiving also marks the shopping period for Christmas (Things To Do On Christmas Weekend). Retail stores wanted a long shopping period, therefore, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that the fourth Thursday in November would be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Thus, it gave another week in some years to retailers to make extra money. The day following the celebration of Thanksgiving came to be known as Black Friday.

Black Friday: Significance For Retailers And Shopkeepers

According to Wikipedia, the earliest mentions of Black Friday are found in the documentation of November 1951 and 1952. It was referred to as a practice of workers calling in sick for work the day after Thanksgiving day. In the US, Thanksgiving Day marks a huge celebration.

People gather with their friends and family, carve the turkey, and tell each other what they are thankful for. American sitcoms and web series have extensively covered this festival showcasing how hectic it can be for people celebrating it. 

It is only natural that people would call in sick the next day and enjoy a 4-day long weekend with friends and family.

‘Black Friday’ and ‘Black Saturday’ were also quite popular terms used by the police in Rochester and Philadelphia to describe traffic and crowds. On November 29, 1975, ‘Black Friday’ was used in The New York Times to describe the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year. As the term started gaining popularity among merchants, retailers started using it to make up for the losses they incurred throughout the year.

Soon, the day following Thanksgiving Day (Thanksgiving Episodes in Friends) came to be associated with a sale season. Another interesting fact to note is that red ink was used to denote losses, and black was used to show profits. Hence, ‘Black Friday’ marks the first day of the sale allowing merchants and shopkeepers to earn profits in the holiday season. It means retailers would no longer have balance books in red. In the US, Black Friday is not a holiday in every city. Only a few states like California and others observe it. 

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First Black Friday Sale In July

It was 2015 when Amazon declared a ‘Black Friday’ sale in July. It was called Prime Day and promised to offer better deals than the ‘Black Friday’ sale. It repeated the practice in 2016 and 2017. Soon, many followed its steps and started offering its users similar deals. In India, July-September marks the end of Summer season sale.

Now it’s not just Amazon but many retail stores and websites that offer Black Friday sales. They just have different names for it and organise it on different days around Thanksgiving. For example, Nykaa is conducting a Pink Friday Sale on November 23. 

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You should hurry up and prepare your wishlist so that as soon as the sale starts, you can get your hands on the best deals from popular brands and e-commerce websites.