Today is the day after Thanksgiving, but some of you may know it better as Capitalism Run Amok Day Black Friday. The origins of the term “Black Friday” go back further than most people realize. In the early 1950’s, the term was used in relation to a high number of worker call-offs the day after the holiday.  This was due to a disease with effects second only to the bubonic plague, “Friday-after-Thanksgiving-itis”.

In 1961 Philadelphia, the phrase was used loosely by the police department to describe the crowds and traffic congestion that accompanied the start of the Christmas shopping season. It wasn’t until the early 1980’s that Black Friday gained national attention.

By this time, retailers did not want a negative connotation to continue, so they made up an alternative origin for the soon to be infamous day. Their alternate view was that because of the rise in sales associated with the event, merchants began to show a profit for the year. The ink in the ledgers went from red to black, hence Black Friday. From then on they lived happily ever after*.

Whatever the origin, Black Friday appears to be a well-established day to avoid going outside or being near people at all. I have never camped out nor gone to the mall on this day. Shopping indoors is the preferred method for this writer. That’s what the internet is for!

What is your best or worst Black Friday experience?

Have a beautiful day no matter what you choose to do. To paraphrase a much greater writer than myself: Beware the Aisles of Merch!

Let the Thanksgiving Day-hangover posting begin!

*Didn’t they Lisa, didn’t they?