What's the history behind Black Friday?

What's claimed to be the busiest shopping day of the year, the day after thanksgiving has been labeled "Black Friday" for some time now. Deals, discounts, and incentives are all part of the hype this day gets each year. For many, this day includes gathering friends and/or family and raiding your favorite stores for stuff you totally needed to buy and definitely would have even without the discounts, right? So, just how did Black Friday come to be to where it is today and how did it get its name? Well, it just so happens that we have the answers!

It all begins in Philadelphia...

When thinking of how the term "Black Friday" came to be, your first guess probably isn't police... right? Well, turns out that the now household term dates back to the police in Philadelphia using the term to describe the day after thanksgiving and heavy increase in traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian.

The term "Black" was used commonly to describe things when they got out of order or when things became too crazy. As the phrase became more popular it became a popular opinion that the reason for this term was due to it being the time of year a lot of retailors began/begin to profit in the year - going from being in the red to in the black financially.

In 1961 city officials tried to improve the term and, at the advice of a public relations adviser, tried to rebrand the term as "Big Friday" and "Big Saturday". This term did not catch and as you can probably tell faded away pretty quickly. (1)

The spread of the term continues...

In 1939 President Roosevelt issued a presidential order that thanksgiving were to be recognized as the fourth Thursday in November. The hopes with this were to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. While many people adopted the change, as it was later confirm through congress, many people started referring to it as 'Franksgiving' (Franklin D. Roosevelt). The spread continued to other larger cities as many big businesses used the holiday parades to launch advertising campaigns. By the 1980's the term was gaining national attention and it became widely popular. 

As you now know, many stores started opening earlier and earlier in the 2000's with some opening thanksgiving night. Now, that is becoming common tradition. Not only did physical locations carry out with this as well, but online stores followed as well. Now, we have come to expect Black Friday deals to be a great time to get your shopping done

Which all led too.... California Gummy Bears

While the path certainly hasn't been easy, the entire point of bringing the term "Black Friday" to light was to get more deals with California Gummy Bears, of course! Ok, so maybe that isn't the truth... but we still have great deals this black Friday! Use code "YES25" for 25% off each box and "YES33" for 33% off when you order 10 or more boxes!

All in all, we here at CA Gummy Bears wish you a happy thanksgiving - stay safe!

Sources
1) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/black-friday-origins/