Black Friday 2015: 3 Interesting Facts About The History Of The Day When Holiday Shoppers Go Into Frenzy

By Lovely Pao

Nov 25, 2015 06:25 AM EST

Black Friday is just around the corner and as what has been practiced in the past, millions of U.S. holiday shoppers are itching to get their hands on the biggest deals of the year from different retailers.

Have you ever wondered how Black Friday came to be and why it is called so?

Here are 3 interesting facts about the history of Black Friday — the day when holiday shoppers go into frenzy:

1. The term "Black Friday" was first used on Sept. 24, 1869, during the downfall of the U.S. gold market. History revealed the story goes to say that two notably ruthless Wall Street brokers, Jim Fisk and Jay Gould, teamed up together to acquire as much as to their capacity the nation's gold, looking forward to driving the price way up and trade it for astonishing profits. Unfortunately, on that specific Friday in September, the treachery was unraveled, thus, sending the stock market into a rapid slump and everyone from farmers to Wall Street barons got out of business.

2. Black Friday was also applied by the Philadelphia police back in the 1950s to describe the pandemonium that happened on the day post-Thanksgiving. The bedlam started when hordes of tourists and suburban shoppers trooped into the city a day before the huge Army-Navy football Saturday game. Philadelphia cops were not allowed to even avail of the day off and they would have to toil extra-long work hours to solve the additional traffic and crowds. Amid the chaos that ensued, shoplifters also took advantage and ransacked merchandises from the stores adding to the headache of the law enforcers.

3. Black Friday is not about the myth that slaves were bought at a discount in the 1800s by Southern plantation owners. Rather, in 1981, the media first used the phrase about the day when retailers finally make money. Typically, positive amounts are printed in black ink. As Bustle has learned, when stores were earning a profit, it went "into the black."

Based on Black Friday's history, the one-day super sale day has come a long way. Furthermore, it has now evolved into a four-day shopping event.

However, if you do have plans to wake up at the crack of dawn a day after Thanksgiving, you might need to think twice as Howard Dvorkin, chairman of Debt.com said, "Black Friday doesn't represent the kickoff to Christmas shopping anymore. More shoppers are skipping the long lines outside retailers on Friday morning because many Black Friday deals start on Thanksgiving night with many stores with openings around 6 p.m.," as per Business Insider.

Dvorkin added that essentially the fact that "door buster deals" are now purchasable online and that it starts into Thanksgiving weekend and beyond has weakened the significance of Black Friday.

Katrina Chan, NerdWallet shopping manager's advice: "It's important for shoppers to ignore the Black Friday percent-off claims, as it's very likely that the advertised amount of the discounts may be inflated."

"Instead, shoppers should look at the sale price of the item and determine if it’s a price they're willing to pay."