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Black Friday is now known as the biggest shopping day of the year — a spectacular moment of massive discounts, long lines, and both excitement and chaos. But behind the flashy advertisements lies a history far richer and more complicated than most people realize.

Black Friday didn’t begin with joyful shopping, nor did it start as a marketing strategy. Its roots stretch back into economic panic, local policing struggles, corporate strategy, and eventually global digital transformation.

This is the complete history of how Black Friday became what it is today.

THE FIRST “BLACK FRIDAY”: A FINANCIAL DISASTER IN 1869

The term Black Friday was first recorded on September 24, 1869, and it had nothing to do with shopping. It referred to a collapse of the U.S. gold market.

Two wealthy speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk, tried to corner the gold market — meaning they attempted to control the price of gold so they could profit massively. When the U.S. government suddenly intervened and released gold into the market, prices crashed.

The result:

• Gold prices dropped sharply
• Stock prices collapsed
• Businesses failed
• Farmers and traders suffered heavy losses

Newspapers called the event “Black Friday” because of the financial panic and misery it caused. At this stage, Black Friday was a term associated with disaster — not discounts.

FROM THANKSGIVING TO SHOPPING: THE EARLY CONNECTION (1920s–1940s)

The modern Black Friday story begins with Thanksgiving. In the early 1900s, Thanksgiving in the United States became linked with the start of the Christmas shopping season.

Department stores like Macy’s began organizing big holiday parades. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which started in 1924, was more than just entertainment — it was a marketing tool to invite people to shop after the holiday.

Over time, an unwritten rule formed among retailers:

“Christmas shopping promotions should only begin after Thanksgiving.”

This meant that the Friday after Thanksgiving quietly became the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

1941 — WHEN THANKSGIVING WAS MOVED FOR SHOPPING

In 1939, Thanksgiving fell on November 30, the last day of the month. Retailers worried that there would be too few shopping days before Christmas.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded by moving Thanksgiving one week earlier, hoping to boost the economy and give people more time to shop. After some controversy, this change was officially signed into law in 1941.

This decision made the connection between Thanksgiving and holiday shopping even stronger. And naturally, the day after Thanksgiving became more and more important for businesses.

HOW POLICE OFFICERS COINED THE TERM (1950s–1960s)

The version of Black Friday we know today — crowded streets, heavy traffic, and busy stores — can be traced back to Philadelphia in the 1950s and 1960s.

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving, Philadelphia would be flooded with:

• Suburban shoppers coming into the city
• Tourists preparing for the annual Army–Navy football game
• Huge traffic jams and crowded sidewalks

For police officers, it was a nightmare. They had to work long shifts to manage traffic and deal with shoplifting and accidents. They began calling the chaotic day:

“Black Friday.”

It was not meant as a compliment. It was a way for the police to describe a stressful, exhausting day.

RETAILERS TRIED TO CHANGE THE NAME

Local store owners did not like the negative tone of “Black Friday.” Some tried to rebrand it as “Big Friday” to make it sound more positive.

But the name “Black Friday” was too catchy. Newspapers continued using it, and the phrase spread beyond Philadelphia. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, “Black Friday” was being used in other U.S. cities to describe the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving.

THE “FROM RED TO BLACK” EXPLANATION

By the 1980s, retailers realized that Black Friday was here to stay — and instead of fighting the name, they decided to give it a positive spin.

They popularized a new explanation:

“Black Friday is the day when stores move from operating in the red (losing money) to in the black (making profit).”

While this story is more of a marketing myth than a true origin, it was clever. It transformed a negative phrase into something that sounded successful and profitable.

From that point on, Black Friday was no longer just an annoying day for police officers — it became a symbol of big sales and big profits.

THE RISE OF DOORBUSTERS AND EARLY-MORNING LINES (1990s–2000s)

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Black Friday evolved into a highly competitive shopping event.

Retailers began offering:

• “Doorbuster” deals — extremely discounted items available in limited quantities
• Early store openings — first 6 a.m., then 5 a.m., then 4 a.m., and even midnight
• Special in-store-only offers

Shoppers responded with equal energy. Many people:

• waited in line overnight
• camped in tents outside electronics and department stores
• ran into stores as soon as doors opened

Media outlets covered Black Friday every year, showing footage of people rushing through doors, grabbing flat-screen TVs, and sometimes arguing or fighting over items. The day became part of American pop culture.

By the early 2000s, Black Friday was widely known as the biggest shopping day of the year in the United States.

THE BIRTH OF CYBER MONDAY (2005)

As online shopping grew, retailers noticed a new pattern: on the Monday after Thanksgiving, there was a spike in online sales. Many people returned to work and used faster office internet to shop online.

In 2005, the term “Cyber Monday” was created by the National Retail Federation to describe this trend.

What started as a small online promotion grew rapidly. Soon:

• online stores offered their own discounts separate from in-store deals
• Black Friday and Cyber Monday became part of the same shopping cycle
• online-only brands joined the holiday shopping competition

AMAZON AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF BLACK FRIDAY

Companies like Amazon dramatically changed the way Black Friday works.

Instead of just one day, Black Friday turned into:

• Black Friday Week
• Early Black Friday Deals
• Cyber Week

Customers could now:

• shop from home
• compare prices easily
• avoid physical crowds
• access deals from other countries

Soon, Black Friday was no longer just an American event. It became a global shopping phenomenon.

BLACK FRIDAY AROUND THE WORLD

Thanks to the internet and global shipping, many countries now take part in Black Friday sales, even if they do not celebrate Thanksgiving.

Black Friday-like events or direct copies of the concept appear in:

• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Brazil
• India
• South Africa
• United Arab Emirates
• Australia
• parts of Asia, including Indonesia and Japan (mostly online)

Other regions also have their own local discount traditions:

• Singles’ Day (China) — on November 11, now the biggest online shopping day in the world
• El Buen Fin (Mexico) — a weekend of sales in November
• Boxing Day (UK, Canada, Australia) — post-Christmas sales with large discounts

Black Friday is now part of a global network of shopping holidays driven by e-commerce, logistics, and digital marketing.

CROWD CHAOS AND SAFETY RISKS

While Black Friday is exciting for many, it also has a darker side. Over the years, there have been reports of:

• stampedes at store entrances
• fights between customers
• injuries related to overcrowded spaces

Viral videos of people pushing and shouting over discounted items have become part of Black Friday’s reputation.

WORKER PRESSURE AND LABOR ISSUES

Black Friday also raises questions about working conditions. Retail employees often face:

• very early or overnight shifts
• long working hours
• dealing with large, impatient crowds

Some workers and labor groups have protested against unfair conditions, calling for better wages and more humane schedules during the holiday season.

CONSUMERISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Critics say Black Friday encourages overconsumption — buying things we don’t really need, just because they are cheap.

The environmental concerns include:

• increased production of goods
• more packaging waste
• higher carbon emissions from shipping

In response, some movements promote alternatives like “Buy Nothing Day” or “Green Friday”, encouraging people to think more carefully before purchasing.

Today, Black Friday is no longer a single 24-hour period. Instead, it has become part of a longer shopping season that includes:

• Early Black Friday deals (often starting weeks before)
• Black Friday weekend
• Cyber Monday
• Cyber Week

Influencers, YouTubers, and TikTok creators now play a big role in Black Friday culture, sharing:

• shopping hauls
• discount codes
• product reviews
• deal guides and wishlists

The event has moved from newspapers and TV ads to social media, apps, and websites. Shopping has become a digital experience, available at any time, to anyone with an internet connection.

Despite the criticism, Black Friday remains important for several reasons:

• It marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season.
• It offers major discounts that can help families save money.
• It boosts sales for both large and small businesses.
• It has become a cultural and social tradition.

Black Friday reflects how society balances:

• tradition and modernity
• gratitude and consumption
• technology and human behavior

From a gold market crash in 1869 to traffic chaos in 1960s Philadelphia, from crowded malls in the 1990s to global online sales today, Black Friday has gone through an incredible transformation.

It tells a story about:

• how economies react to crisis
• how language and marketing can change meaning
• how technology turns local events into global phenomena

Whether you love Black Friday for the deals or dislike it for the crowds and consumerism, it is clear that the day has become a powerful symbol of modern life — mixing history, money, culture, and emotion in one long weekend.

And as shopping continues to evolve with new technologies and global markets, the story of Black Friday is still being written.