Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. It’s filled with early deals, specials, and chaos as it is the unofficial start of Christmas shopping. People willingly will eat their Thanksgiving dinner and then go out to the nearest mall to camp until midnight or the next morning for the best deals (which is usually worth the wait). Have you ever wondered how it ended up this way? In this article, it will all be explained.

How Was Black Friday Created?

Black Friday originally referred to the financial crisis in 1869. This financial crisis was the crash of the U.S. Gold market on September 24th, 1869. The stock market fell drastically and it was a horrible day for United States citizens. Technically, this is where the term was created; but the current meaning is related to a different event.

Black Friday was the term that police officers in Philadelphia used for the day after Thanksgiving. This was because of the annual chaos that would ensue. Dating back to the 1950’s, hordes of shoppers would come and create a ton of commotion and traffic in the city. This was due to the holiday and the Army-Navy football game. While the term was big and known in Philly, the term wasn’t known nationwide. Black Friday didn’t get popular until the late 1980’s. Retailers found a way to reinvent the word into something positive, shedding the negativity of the term’s past.