Black Friday

The name "Black Friday" originated because, before the age of computerized profit records, red ink symbolized a drop in profits for a store while black ink symbolized increased revenue. The day after Thanksgiving has traditionally been one of the most profitable for retailers, seeing as it marks the beginning of holiday season spending. It seems logical for retailers to have a day of extreme sales to jump start people's Christmas shopping, but a question that has always perplexed me is: Why does it have to be so close to Thanksgiving?


Thanksgiving is one of the only widely celebrated American holidays that is not based on giving gifts. Thanksgiving is the day to appreciate what you have and to distance yourself from materialism, in fact it would seem inappropriate to give a gift for Thanksgiving. So I wonder, who came up with the idea to cut this important holiday short so people can wake up at 3am and trample each other to buy shiny new electronics? It seems that people are using it justify their overwhelming spending by saying "Well, I gave thanks yesterday, now that I got that over with I can go shopping!"