Please explain "Black Friday" to a limey

[Thaluikhain]

(As an aside, there's a whole generation of schoolkids in the UK who have never seen a blackboard IRL - I think I may have been among the last. Shortly after I left school most blackboards were changed to dry-wipe whiteboards, and nowadays most primary schools use interactive whiteboards with projectors, which are ironically inferior to old-fashioned chalkboards on a sunny day).

In my experience, almost all the blackboards I've seen are actually dark green.

 

[Flutterguy]

It's a day where consumer whores buy a bunch of shit they don't need, because apparently our planet is a never ending supply of materials. Which is a good thing because people are programmed to buy shit to make themselves feel happy rather then maybe think, exercise or express themselves creatively.

Maybe I am just a miserable prick, but I really don't think giving every kid 100's of pounds of pointless plastic toys is in the best interest of the planets future. Seeing as our species is more or less stuck here.

 

[shootthebandit]

Im assuming with it being the last friday of november that its the last payday for people before xmas

 

[Double A]

He's a troll, son. Let it go.

Wasn't talking to you..? Let it go.

You posted on a public forum, so yes, you were.

I truly fail to understand how you would take such a ridiculous post seriously. I thought it was funny, myself. There have been numerous answers to OP's question in this thread. Any non-answers solely exist to elicit a laugh. If you don't grasp that, then you will not find your time spent on this website very enjoyable. Just relax a bit, and don't take things too seriously.

Lol I love people like you: "The Anti-arguer". Yes, you've morally "one-uped" a complete stranger by calling a poster a troll, answered a question someone didn't ask you, talked down to someone because they didn't respond the same way you did, and then insinuated that you represent the culture of The Escapist forums.

Textbook narcissism with a hint of entitlement and elitism. I understand your need for attention but being hypocritical isn't any better then trolling, kid. Considering the wealth of comments and polite discussion regarding the OP (not to mention all the people who've already called you out), I'm quite sure you're the one who "fails to understand such a ridiculous post".

But go ahead and reply to this post with your scathing retort because I'm sure you can't accept your own suggestion to "let it go".

Well hell. I'm not trying to morally one-up you, pretend to represent or even embrace the culture of this forum, or do anything other than point stuff out. I came across as more abrasive than I intended, but I've gathered I sometimes do so to people who don't know me. I was just trying to offer advice. I don't care if you take the advice itself.

The only other thing I want to address before I do go do something else is that I usually use "ridiculous" as a positive adjective. That guy's post was funny nonsense, and you didn't think it was either of those things. That is really all I wanted to point out, I'm just shit at explaining things.

 

[Psychobabble]

Hi all, I'm taking a break from my usual furtive R+P dwelling to throw out a question to the wider Escapist community.

I feel a little lazy not just Googling or Wikipedia-ing this, but what is Black Friday? I gather it's something to do with sales?

Also, isn't it a bit of a weird name for a day, given that the US is so politically-charged that you have to call a blackboard a "chalkboard" to avoid being racist?

From what I've been told and seen on the news I'd compare them to the last Brixton riots without the possible justification for outrage.

 

[Ryotknife]

And here I was thinking South Park was just making a joke.

People die over this?

How fucking stupid can people get?...

well, 4 people have died over 7 years. You are ~90x more likely to die from a bee sting or from lightning than die at black Friday.

 

[Ryotknife]

The name seemed a bit alarming to me, probably because it brought up associations with Black Tuesday, Bloody Sunday, and so on. Also, the "racially sensitive" aspect of the name was a genuine question (no, I wasn't trolling, thanks anyway buddy) - years ago I'm sure an American told me that "saying blackboard is racist" and the notion stuck.

Okay, that part is an exaggeration/hyperbole. Pretty much all Americans know its an exaggeration/hyperbole, but he should have known better than to say that to a non-American without explaining.

Its like someone saying "you cant throw a rock in NYC without hitting at least 5 pizzerias"

Besides I don't think blackboards are used anymore in the US. From what teachers tell me its mostly whiteboard or smartboards. Although I recently found out that GT (gifted and talented) got its name changed because people were worried that it would upset children who weren't GT.

 

[revjor]

Is there any kind of cultural significance to the event, i.e. the date or the name? Is it just coincidence that it's near Thanksgiving? Seems to me the shops would want to hike up the prices ahead of Christmas...

Okay here is an Honest answer to you're question rather than a bunch of people who don't understand basic economics, sneering at capitalism

The name "Black Friday" comes from an accounting term. If your books in the "Red" you're loosing money. If they are in the "Black" you're making money. The name comes from the fact that due to sales volume the Friday after US thanksgiving is the best time of year to get you're books in the black for the quarter.

Also if you think that it's the best time to hike prices than you don't understand one of the most important concepts of Capitalism. The Invisible Hand of Competition.
Black Friday is all about sales volume, getting people in stores to buy things, and sales are the best way to do that. If Alice is selling Widgets for £5 and Bob is selling them for £3 where do you shop. So stores offer the outright best sales of the year to entice shoppers to come to their stores rather than their competition. On Black Friday it is not uncommon to see things on sale for something like %80 off.

The name originally was a Philadelphia Police nickname for the day referring to how bad of a day it was for public workers like cops and bus drivers. The name is a reference to the first Black Friday when Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market in 1869 causing an economic crisis. Throughout the 60's and 70's it was always a reference to the madness of the day. In the first recorded use of the term for the day after Thanksgiving is an article in '61 about a Philly PR guy suggesting changing the name to Big Friday to give the day a better reputation.

1961 - "For downtown merchants throughout the nation, the biggest shopping days normally are the two following Thanksgiving Day. Resulting traffic jams are an irksome problem to the police and, in Philadelphia, it became customary for officers to refer to the post-Thanksgiving days as Black Friday and Black Saturday. Hardly a stimulus for good business, the problem was discussed by the merchants with their Deputy City Representative, Abe S. Rosen, one of the country's most experienced municipal PR executives. He recommended adoption of a positive approach which would convert Black Friday and Black Saturday to Big Friday and Big Saturday."

It didn't work.
1966 - "JANUARY 1966 ? "Black Friday" is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. "Black Friday" officially opens the Christmas shopping season in Center City, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing."

It wasn't until '81 that we have the first published instance of Black Friday referring to the accounting practice of using black ink.

"If the day is the year's biggest for retailers, why is it called Black Friday? Because it is a day retailers make profits ? black ink, said Grace McFeeley of Cherry Hill Mall. "I think it came from the media," said William Timmons of Strawbridge & Clothier. "It's the employees, we're the ones who call it Black Friday," said Belle Stephens of Moorestown Mall. "We work extra hard. It's a long hard day for the employees."

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

So, people working in Retail started calling it "Black Friday" because it was the worst day to work retail each year due to how busy it was. What with people screaming, fighting, trampling, and stabbing each other over cheap Chinese TVs.

Except that I didn't SAY that. The text in bold is NOT mine, and I am unhappy to having it attributed to me. Please edit your post and don't put words that I didn't say in my mouth.

Thank you.

 

[option1soul]

So, people working in Retail started calling it "Black Friday" because it was the worst day to work retail each year due to how busy it was. What with people screaming, fighting, trampling, and stabbing each other over cheap Chinese TVs.

Except that I didn't SAY that. The text in bold is NOT mine, and I am unhappy to having it attributed to me. Please edit your post and don't put words that I didn't say in my mouth.

Thank you.

That was legitimately a joke ^_^ considering the next sentence I mentioned working at Best Buy they were obviously tied together. But I see how that was rude and it's been edited.

 

[Johnny Impact]

You're better off not understanding. Hell, I live here and I don't understand it. But, since you ask:

Thanksgiving is held on the last Thursday in November. The day after is traditionally a heavy Christmas shopping day. Rampant consumerism and commercialism has blown this tradition so far out of proportion that it is now an insane parody of itself. People camp in front of stores for literally days, stab each other over parking spaces......it's like a demonic game show.