Wiregrass Seniors Magazine December 2018 DECEMBER ISSUE | Page 26

Page 26
WiregrassSeniorsMagazine.com
The History of Black Friday Might
Be a Little Older Than You Think!
The history of Black Friday started much earlier
than people think. The day after Thanksgiving was
the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season
since the late 19th century. President Lincoln des-
ignated the Thanksgiving holiday as the last Thurs-
day in November.
The day after Thanksgiving wasn't called Black Fri-
day then. The name was associated with Septem-
ber 24, 1869. Two speculators, Jay Gould and
James Fisk, created a boom-and-bust in gold prices.
A stock market crash followed, as prices fell 20
percent. The disruption in gold prices sent com-
modity prices plummeting 50 percent. Corruption in In the 1950s, people began calling in sick the day
Tammany Hall allowed Gould and Fisk to escape after Thanksgiving, essentially giving themselves a
four-day weekend. Since stores were open, as were
without punishment.
most businesses, those playing hooky could also get
In 1905, Canadian department store Eaton's be- a head start on their holiday shopping. That’s as long
gan the first Thanksgiving Day parade by bringing as the boss didn't see them. Rather than try to deter-
Santa on a wagon through the streets of downtown mine whose pay should be cut, and who was legiti-
Toronto. In 1913, eight live reindeer pulled Santa's mately sick, many businesses started adding that day
"sleigh." By 1916, seven floats representing nurs- as another paid holiday.
ery rhyme characters joined Santa in the parade.
In 1966, the Black Friday name became famous in
In 1924, the Eaton's parade inspired Macy's De- print. That's when a story appeared in an ad in The
partment Store to launch its famous Thanksgiving American Philatelist, a stamp collectors' magazine.
Day parade in New York City. Macy's wanted to The Philadelphia Police Department used the name
celebrate its success during the Roaring 20s. The to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the down-
town stores.
parade boosted shopping for the following day.
Retailers had a gentleman's agreement to wait until
then before advertising holiday sales.
In 1939, during the Great Depression, Thanksgiv-
ing happened to fall during the fifth week of Novem-
ber. Retailers warned they would go bankrupt be-
cause the holiday shopping season was too short.
They petitioned President Franklin D. Roosevelt to
move the Thanksgiving holiday up to the fourth Thurs-
day.
Unfortunately, by this time it was late October. Most
people had already made their plans. Some were
so upset that they called the holiday "Franksgiving"
instead. Only 32 states followed FDR's move. Oth-
ers celebrated two holidays, which forced some
companies to give their employees an extra day
off.
In 1941, Congress ended the confusion. It passed
a law that made Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday
in November no matter what.