The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia in the 1950s, where police used it to describe the chaotic and heavy traffic caused by crowds of suburban shoppers and tourists on the day after Thanksgiving. The name was initially negative, reflecting the strain on law enforcement, but retailers later embraced and redefined it by the 1980s to mean the day their stores went "in the black," or became profitable for the year due to high sales.
In the word of the philosopher Paul Harvey: "And now you know the rest of the story."
Did you get caught up in the hype, spending the night in a lawn chair in front of Best Buy so you could be one of the first ones in the store when they open up at 6:00 am? Yeah, me neither. Years ago, Steph and Dan used to get up in the middle of the night to get to the stores to buy things for the kids on the Angel Trees at the school where they used to teach. Joan and I would go along to help coordinate ("We'll go to this store, you go to that one") and make trips to the car. The school district where they now work does not do the Angle Tree.
They would research where they could get the most for the budget, and buy a new outfit and a toy. Joan and I would donate, and many of our friends did so, as well. With a coordinated effort, we could take care of every kid on the tree.
Things have changed; we have all aged. Since Covid, none of us want to fight the crowds. And to that fact, I do believe the crowds are less because most retailers started their Black Friday Sales the day after Halloween.
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