Black Friday is a day that everyone knows, and also a day that many people have participated in, but not many people are aware of the history that is attached to the day. For people who don’t live in a country that celebrates Black Friday or simply don’t follow it, Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving, when most stores offer exclusive and limited deals. People often shop either in person or online, while there are a few differences when it comes to location, that is, the general idea of Black Friday, but there are still a lot of things that come from this day, and not to mention the way people view it and its extensive history.
The first thing that I want to set up is the overall history of this day and the name “Black Friday,” and how it has come to be one of the most popular and influential holidays. Now, despite what you might think, the name “Black Friday” hasn’t always been associated with shopping matter in fact, in the 1800s, when the name first appeared, it was used to describe a stock market crash. Which is very different then what we associate the name with today, but it would still go through a few changes before it would become a name for retail. Still, there is a change before we get to the retail side, which is the day after Thanksgiving, which was a Friday; a lot of people would go out shopping, but that would also mean that a lot of people would be driving.
Now, when a lot of people are driving and especially in the 50’s then there was a good chance that there would be a lot more crashes than normal, so the police started calling the Friday after Thanksgiving “Black Friday”. After that, most people would associate the day after Thanksgiving with “Black Friday,” and the corporations would start to take advantage of that. The companies in retail would go through a marketing campaign to rebrand “Black Friday” from a hectic day to a day filled with sales. There is more to “Black Friday” than just the history, while it is important, what is most important is how people view this holiday and how they feel about it.
That day is one filled with a lot of competition because that is the nature of the holiday. If you go to a big store filled with deals, there will always be people arguing with each other and the occasional fight. Part of the overall fun of “Black Friday” is that, in a way, many people view it more as a sport than a holiday, which, in a way, they are not wrong, because it’s a competition on who can get the best deal, and having to go against other people. Many do view it as what America is about, truly a place in which you are in constant competition with other people. Some see it as a good thing, others don’t, but this holiday is slowly spreading around.
Other countries, such as Canada and the UK, are also adopting “Black Friday,” and it’s starting to get popular in their countries. People seem to be enjoying it, while other countries are also starting to use the holiday; currently, it’s mostly those two. It truly is a popular holiday in the United States, as more than 150 million people shop during “Black Friday,” but most do end up shopping online. The reason is because of Cyber Week, in which the deals are spread out for a week, but the general idea of “Black Friday” is still there.
The spirit of “Black Friday” is a day in which you can get items at a good cost and have competition with the people around you, so I’ll tell you to go out there during “Black Friday”, get what you want, and just have a nice, fun day.
