What Is Black Friday: The Real History and Origins

If you’ve ever wondered why the day after Thanksgiving carries this particular name, you’re not alone. Black Friday carries a surprising amount of baggage — myths about its origins, conflicting dates, and a meaning that’s shifted dramatically over more than a century. This piece cuts through the folklore to show what Black Friday actually is, where the name really came from, and what the shopping holiday means for consumers and retailers alike.

Date: Friday after Thanksgiving · Origin Term: Philadelphia police, 1961 · Retail Adoption: 1980s for profits · Global Spread: UK, Ireland, Amazon · Boycott Movement: Mass Blackout campaigns

The key facts table below summarizes Black Friday’s core identity, including its verified origin and common misconceptions.

Why do they call it Black Friday?

The name does not come from a stock market crash or retail accounting practices — those explanations are myths that took hold much later. Instead, the term originated with Philadelphia police officers in the 1950s and 1960s who used “Black Friday” to describe the chaos that descended on the city the day after Thanksgiving.

Police origins in Philadelphia

Large crowds traveled to Philadelphia each year for the Army-Navy game held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The surge of visitors caused severe traffic jams, accidents, and general mayhem that stretched police resources thin. Officers began referring to that Friday as Black Friday, and the term stuck within local law enforcement circles for years before it gained broader usage.

“Philadelphia police officers first used the term ‘Black Friday’ in the 1960s to describe the day after Thanksgiving, when a flurry of tourists came into the city to shop, causing traffic jams and accidents.”

— Jay Myers, co-founder and VP of growth at Bold Commerce (via Fox News)

Retailer profit adoption

The accounting story — that retailers went “from red to black” on this single day — only emerged in the 1980s when merchants began actively promoting the post-Thanksgiving sales period. The term had been in circulation for decades before retailers decided to reclaim it for marketing purposes. By then, the negative connotation of traffic chaos was reframed as a positive marker of commercial success.

What is Black Friday and why is it celebrated?

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving in the United States, falling on the fourth Thursday of November. It signals the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season and has become the busiest shopping day of the year in the country. While not an official federal holiday, several states — including California — designate the day after Thanksgiving for state employee observance.

US Thanksgiving timing

The date of Thanksgiving itself shifted in 1939 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November rather than the traditional fifth Thursday. This change extended the Christmas shopping season by a week, creating more space between Thanksgiving and the December holidays. The adjustment faced resistance and became known as “Franksgiving,” but ultimately became permanent.

Christmas shopping start

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which began in 1924, helped cement the day after Thanksgiving as the natural launch point for holiday shopping. By the 1930s, the day after Thanksgiving had already become a significant retail date despite the ongoing Great Depression.

“1930s: Day after Thanksgiving popular shopping day despite Great Depression.”

— Business Insider

Stores now begin sales earlier and earlier — Toys “R” Us opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving evening as early as 2010 to capture early-bird shoppers (Wikipedia). Sales events no longer fit within a single day; approximately 30% of year-end retail revenue occurs between Black Friday and Christmas (The Digital Ring).

What is the true story behind Black Friday?

Separating fact from folklore requires looking at three separate origins that have been conflated over time. The most commonly repeated origin stories — the 1929 stock market crash and the retail accounting explanation — are both myths. The actual police origin in Philadelphia is verifiable and well-documented.

1960s chaos term

Philadelphia police officers coined the term in the 1950s–1960s specifically to describe the gridlock and disorder caused by massive shopping crowds (Fox News). The phrase spread slowly through retail and media circles before national adoption in the late 1980s.

1980s marketing shift

Retailers in the 1970s and 1980s gradually embraced Black Friday as a marketing opportunity rather than a complaint. Big-box stores drove the shift, opening earlier and promoting steeper discounts to attract crowds. By the late 1980s, national chains had fully adopted the term (Walden University). Some retailers initially preferred “After-Thanksgiving Sales” to avoid the negative historical connotation.

The slave auction origin story — which claims the name derives from post-Thanksgiving slave auctions — has no historical evidence and appears to have gained traction through a viral Facebook post in 2018 (Wikipedia). This myth has been repeatedly debunked by historians and etymologists.

What are the pros and cons of shopping on Black Friday?

The trade-off for consumers is straightforward: deeper savings come with real logistical challenges. Shoppers who plan ahead — either arriving early, shopping online, or targeting mid-season sales — often achieve better outcomes than those who tackle Black Friday crowds unprepared.

Why do people want to boycott Black Friday?

Consumer activism against Black Friday has grown substantially in recent years, driven by concerns about excessive consumerism, worker treatment, and the commercialization of the holiday season. Movement organizers use campaigns like “Mass Blackout” to encourage consumers to skip the shopping entirely.

Consumerism pushback

Critics argue that Black Friday reinforces a culture of overconsumption that harms both individuals and the environment. The emphasis on acquiring more goods — often at prices that encourage impulse buying — conflicts with more minimalist or sustainable lifestyle choices gaining popularity.

Worker actions

Retail workers have organized protests and strikes to demand better working conditions, fair pay, and the right to spend holidays with family rather than at registers and stockrooms. The push to open stores earlier each year, including on Thanksgiving itself, has intensified these concerns.

Black Friday Around the World

While Black Friday originated in the United States, the concept has spread globally through e-commerce and international retail expansion. Regional adaptations reveal how different markets adopt and modify the shopping holiday.

The regional table below shows how Black Friday has been rebranded and reshaped for different cultural contexts.

Singles Day in China — observed on November 11 — consistently outsells Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Prime Day combined, highlighting how cultural and commercial contexts shape shopping holidays differently across markets (Emarsys).

Black Friday Timeline

The timeline below traces how Black Friday evolved from a financial crash term to a global retail phenomenon.

The pattern is clear: Black Friday evolved from a police complaint about traffic congestion to a global retail phenomenon, with each generation repurposing the name to suit its own economic interests.

Confirmed Facts vs. Rumors

• Confirmed: Philadelphia police coined “Black Friday” in the 1950s–1960s for post-Thanksgiving crowds
• Confirmed: The term predates retail adoption by at least two decades
• Confirmed: 1869 gold market crash also used the term but is unrelated to shopping
• Confirmed: The “red to black” accounting explanation emerged in the 1980s as a marketing rebrand
• Confirmed: Black Friday marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the US
• Confirmed: Sales periods now stretch across weeks, not a single day
• Rumor: Black Friday derives from post-Thanksgiving slave auctions — no historical evidence supports this claim
• Rumor: The name comes from 1929 stock market crash — this is false; the crash predates the shopping term
• Uncertain: Whether any verified link exists between Christianity and the Black Friday name
• Uncertain: Exact first retail use beyond the 1951 journal reference remains unclear

What the Experts Say

“Many people think that ‘Black Friday’ comes from the idea that it’s a highly profitable day for retailers, one where they’re getting ‘out of the red’ and ‘into the black.’ The term didn’t actually originate from retailers.”

— Jay Myers, co-founder and VP of growth at Bold Commerce (via Fox News)

The expert perspective clarifies what many shoppers assume without investigation: the profit explanation, while emotionally satisfying for a commercial holiday, arrived decades after the name itself. Retailers borrowed the terminology from law enforcement and gave it a new meaning.

For US shoppers, the choice is clear: plan ahead and shop strategically, or risk the chaos that Philadelphia police first complained about more than sixty years ago. Online alternatives and extended sale periods now reduce the need to brave physical crowds, though the deepest discounts still tend to appear on Black Friday proper. Retailers and consumers alike have adapted the event to fit their own needs — and that flexibility may be the true secret to its longevity.

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