The origin of the term “Black Friday” is somewhat murky.
As best as retail historians can discern, the earliest linguistic references date back to Philadelphia in 1966.
According to American Dialect Society, folks that actually spend their time arguing about what we say and when we said it, Black Friday was the name the Philadelphia Police Dept. designated the Friday following Thanksgiving Day.
[img]221|left|||no_popup[/img]
To the Philly cops, Black Friday was not a term of endearment. Rather, it referred to the massive traffic jams and overcrowded sidewalks that plagued downtown Philadelphia as shoppers mobbed stores from opening to closing.
Historically, associating black with a day of the week has always been particularly ominous.
The 1929 stock market crash is known as “Black Tuesday.” Likewise, “Black Monday” denotes the dark episode in 1987 when stock markets around the world shed more value than any day in their history. The Dow fell a whopping 508 points. Recently, we’ve seen so many sell-offs of that magnitude that we’ve given up assigning them with grim color or shade designation.
The Pervasive Ubiquity of Black
Black is also the color of one of the world’s most dangerous snakes – the Mamba.
“Black September” was the name of the infamous Palestinian terror group that captured and brutally murdered 11 Israeli Olympians during the 1972 Munich Games. “Black Sabbath” was the British heavy metal band led by Ozzy Osborne that most adults of my parents’ generation believed was the devil incarnate.
Just in case you thought I missed it, the earliest “Black Friday” reference dates back to a gruesome day in October 1307, when assassins, under direction of Pope Benedict XI, fanned out across Europe and in one coordinated stroke of the Papal sword all but wiped out the Knights Templar.
As Europe’s first banking conglomerate, the church wanted the Templars exterminated because they had become too powerful. Historians, however, have since concluded that the Templars drew the ire of the church because the Pope was unable to lock in a no points refi at a favorable rate. Fortunately for Friday, the downfall of the Templars happened on a 13th.
Black Friday Is Just the Beginning
Despite its historical baggage, the Friday following our national day of gluttony now is associated with Opening Day in the Christmas shopping season. With the downturn in our economic fortunes, retailers appear willing to try anything to lure shoppers through their turnstiles.
The Thanksgiving Day newspapers and airwaves were choked with ads hawking “Midnight Madness,” “Doors open at 4 a.m.,” and “Buy one, get two free.” Even that anachronism of the post-Depression era, “lay-away” has returned.
As the raw data from today’s retail sales pours in, analysts from Wall Street to Washington will try to read the tea leaves.
Although millions of Americans will brave the elements and throngs of fellow bargain hunters presently are swarming the malls, the disappointing numbers will undoubtedly cast a further pall over our increasingly gloomy economic outlook.
Unfortunately, for the first time in many years, the term Black Friday will actually make sense.
John Cohn is a senior partner at Globe West Financial Group based on the Westside. www.globewestfinancial.com.
