In a country where some people still remember “Black Tuesday”, “Black Friday” is inexorably gaining popularity – the day of sales with huge discounts.
The sale on Friday after Thanksgiving has always been a popular form of entertainment, pastime, and for some, sports in the United States. However, why is this Friday suddenly turned black? On the “intrigues” of accountants with a black pen, huge traffic jams and significant discounts, which became a characteristic feature of this day. To know more about black friday and its sales, you can visit blackfriday.
So, to begin with, let’s look at the very phenomenon of Black Friday. Why did the sales take place on that day? Immediately it should be noted that various fairs and bazaars for the holidays in the USA (and not only there) have been popular since time immemorial.
Later, the fairs began to transform into large trading floors, which, by Thanksgiving Day, which is widely celebrated in English-speaking countries, as well as by Christmas, organized entire festivals and lured customers to discounts.
At first, however, the discounts were small, and the sellers gave part of their profits to charity. However, several decades later, merchants came to the conclusion that they already give up their goods with a devaluation, which means that they contributed to “gratitude” as well.
One of the main versions, why Friday is just black, is a common story about the economic collapse, which, however, has no direct relation to sales. The thing is that on September 24, 1869, the US Treasury, in order to reduce the monopoly of businessmen in gold, threw a large mass of gold onto the exchange to stabilize the market.
Due to the fact that the situation has not been forgotten for another two years, Friday became black and rise of Black Friday deals.
Black Pasta – Profit Emblem
However, there is another, more plausible version that introduces us not only to the world of sales from the inside, but also shows human vanity and cunning. In general, the situation itself is quite simple. The fact is that in the magazine of expenses of the store accountants and sellers with red pen note the decline and costs, and the black one marks the profit. It was during the sales days that there was more black paste in the magazine.
The English idiom in the black, which has the meaning “sellers today will be a plus,” testifies to such a name. After all, even with huge discounts, stores have great profits due to the influx of buyers. By the way, two black Friday traditions are also in the hands of businessmen: many people take special time off on that day to go on sale, and those things that are acquired on such sales to return to the store are considered bad form.
“Black” day calendar
The following two versions talk about the emergence of the name from a more serious, I can even say, tragic point of view. The fact is that sales and fairs on Black Friday led to the formation of huge traffic jams on the roads.
Especially popular is the episode that occurred in Pennsylvania, where traffic jams reached 12-point levels on the day of sales. As a result, people threw their vehicles right on the roads to participate in the shopping trip. And the Philadelphia police before each sales season release a special bulletin in which they remind drivers of the rules of the road.
It is also interesting that on “Black Friday” almost all the shops open neither the light nor the morning – around five in the morning, and close at night. And in some countries on “Black Friday” shopping centers work all night. That is, the meaning of “black Friday” may also mean that on this day the staff have a hard work today – that is, they work in a black way.
But the second version directly associates black color with sad events. It’s not for nothing that at the very beginning we dubbed the very concept of sales as one of the sports, because people, incited by greed and huge discounts, fell into hustle and line. So, even at the end of the twentieth century, several people with bruises and even limb injuries got into the hospital after “Black Friday”. Apparently, the sale is one of the traumatic sports, the best incentive of which is greed or the desire for something new.
Black Friday peeked in Ukraine relatively recently – thematic sales were first arranged in 2010. However, there is one peculiarity here – since Thanksgiving in our country is not celebrated as widely as in the USA and the UK, we arrange similar sales closer to the New Year or to Halloween, and may even be at the request of the sellers. One thing is for sure – this custom, like many others, has successfully caught on in our country.
However, even before that, large-scale sales were held in the CIS countries, which even found a response in the mass media and cinema.
