Black Friday

"Black Friday" has complex origins, but is widely associated with the tradition of shopping the day after Thanksgiving in the United States.

One of the most popular explanations is that the term 'Black Friday' was first used in Philadelphia in the 1960s to describe the chaos and congestion in the streets caused by crowds of people shopping after Thanksgiving. The term 'black' was supposed to represent the shift by retailers from red figures (deficit) to black figures (profit) thanks to the massive sales on that day.

Another popular explanation is that workers were often ill the day after Thanksgiving, taking time off (or 'going AWOL'), which meant that many employees were needed to manage the rush of customers, hence the idea of 'Black Friday'.

Whatever its exact origins, Black Friday is now a major commercial event, marking the start of the end-of-year shopping season, with massive discounts offered by many retailers. Just a little more patience!