If you have ever gone shopping on Black Friday, you may have wondered how this tradition began. Although there are new days that offer special deals such as Cyber Monday, it is Black Friday that started this trend. Although the day after Thanksgiving is representative of the very first day of the Christmas season, something that has been recognized since the 19th century, it may have actually originated far earlier than that. Let’s take a look at where did Black Friday start and how this official beginning of the Christmas season is slowly beginning to fade into obscurity.
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When Was The First Black Friday?
This was originally created by a couple speculators in 1869 that were focused on the gold market. This later expanded into Canada, and the year 1905, during a Thanksgiving day parade. Although there was some initial turmoil on the actual day that Thanksgiving should be, Congress passed a law in 1941 making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of every November, coming close to Pres. Lincoln’s original designation for the date of the holiday. The term Black Friday actually became famous in 1966 because of the traffic jams that were created by having sales the day right after Thanksgiving. It was not until the age of the Internet that this special day of purchasing discount items became less meaningful because people could order most of these discount products online.
Will The Internet Effectively Eliminate Black Friday?
Although this day was designated to represent the very first day of the Christmas season, things have changed dramatically in the last couple decades. The size of the online company Amazon made it possible for them to create their own special day called Prime Day, one that many experts believe is slowly killing off the traditional Black Friday event. It remains to be seen if Black Friday will continue to be a day where retailers are able to make a substantial amount of profit, or if it will simply fade into obscurity because of better online deals.
Now that you know where did Black Friday start, and where it stands today, you can see how technology is playing a role in diminishing the benefits of this special day of getting deals. However, it will always remain in the minds of many people as the opening day of the Christmas season and will likely continue to be used by retailers to generate just a little more profit for the year.