Why is it called Black Friday?

Answer 1

The first use of this term to describe the day after Thanksgiving is not exactly known. There are three popular theories as to its origin.


Accounting practice
One theory is that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, common accounting practices use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink would show positive amounts. Black Friday is the beginning of the period where they would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black).

Earliest Citation, speaking to the Friday after Thanksgiving:

A BLACK FRIDAY.
There have been many Black Fridays in recent history. Most of them have been days of financial panic. There has been none of blacker foreboding than last Friday. And the blackness is not loss or fear of loss in stocks and bonds.
New York Times (1857-Current file).
New York, N.Y.: Dec 3, 1922. pg. 38, 1 pgs
ISSN/ISBN 03624331

Stress from large crowds
Another theory comes from the fact that shopping experience on this day can be extremely stressful. The term is used as a comparison to the extremely stessful and chaotic experience of Black Tuesday or other black days. According to The Word Spy:

Earliest Citation:
Christmas decorations around Tampa Bay started going up in late October, and business has been brisk since then. And while Friday--known as Black Friday for the legendary hordes--will be the biggest shopping day for many area stores, others ring up the greatest sales the Saturday before Christmas.
—Marilyn Marks, "Retailers expect good sales this Christmas," St. Petersburg Times, November 27, 1986


Employees of retail stores have for years referred to Black Friday in a satirical way, to note the extremely stressful and hectic nature of the day. Heavy traffic and customer demands added to the long hours make it a difficult day.

Morning Darkness
The third theory comes from the darkness that surrounds the early riser on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. The sky on the first day of christmas is completely dark for the morning bird looking for bargains and low prices presented by his/her favorite store on Black Friday.

Nuns
Another theory talked about is that all the nuns would go out into the shops on Black Friday and shop in their all-black outfits.

Answer 2

[edit] Accounting practice
One theory is that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, common accounting practices use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink would show positive amounts. Black Friday is the beginning of the period where they would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year's profits (the black).

Earliest Citation, speaking to the Friday after Thanksgiving:

A BLACK FRIDAY.
There have been many Black Fridays in recent history. Most of them have been days of financial panic. There has been none of blacker foreboding than last Friday. And the blackness is not loss or fear of loss in stocks and bonds.

Answer 3

In finance whether for a church or for businesses, we have circle charts that have red, white and black on them. Look at it like a pie with three different colors.

When things are in the red, it means times are hard, things are not looking well, something needs to be done to improve sales & profit.

When things are in the white, it means things are going ok... no problems, keeping everything going but shows room for improvement.

When things are in the black, it means sales are outstanding, buisness is fabulous, people are spending and business owners are happy happy ! Which brings you to Black Friday. The biggest consumer spending day of the year. Making business owners tons of money and their charts to go in to the black!

Answer 4

Black Friday (1869), a financial crisis in the United States
Black Friday (1881) in which 189 Scottish fishermen lost their lives
Black Friday (1889), the day of the Johnstown Flood
Black Friday (1910), the Women's Social and Political Union took militant action when the Conciliation Bill failed
Black Friday (1919), a riot in Glasgow stemming from industrial unrest
Black Friday (1921), day on which British dockers' and railwaymen's union leaders announced their decision not to call for strike action against wage reductions for miners
Black Friday (1939), a day of devastating fires in Australia
Black Friday (1944), disastrous attack by the Canadian Black Watch near Woensdrecht during The Battle of the Scheldt
Black Friday (1945), largest air battle over Norway, over Sunnfjord
Hollywood Black Friday, the day the six-month-old Confederation of Studio Unions (CSU) strike boiled over into a bloody riot at the Warner Bros. studios leading to the eventual breakup of the CSU
Black Friday (1959), Occurred Feb. 20, 1958. On this day the Canadian CF-105 Avro Arrow project was cancelled by Prime Minister Diefenbaker. In all a total of 30,000 workers at the Avro plants were laid off
Black Friday (1978), a massacre of protesters in Iran
Black Friday (1982), known in Britain after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking the Falklands War
Black Friday (1987), the day an hour-long F4 category tornado ran through the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Black Friday (2004), a crackdown on a peaceful protest in the capital city of Maldives, Malé
Black Friday may also refer to:

Black Friday, a name used for any Friday which falls on the 13th of a month
Black Friday, the Friday preceding Easter, also known as Good Friday or God Friday
Black Friday (shopping), the day after Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the first shopping day of the Christmas season and one of the busiest shopping days of the year
"Black Friday" is the name given to the last Friday before Christmas in the United Kingdom. It is a day when widespread anti-social behaviour due to public alcohol consumption is expected to occur, and police are given additional powers to combat it
Black Friday (1940 film), a science-fiction/horror film starring Boris Karloff, Stanley Ridges and Bela Lugosi
Black Friday (2005 film), a Hindi film on the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, directed by Anurag Kashyap
Black Friday, a song by Grinspoon
Black Friday, a song by Steely Dan
Black Friday, a song by Megadeth
Black Friday Rule, a title of a song by Flogging Molly
"Black Friday", the nickname for game 3 of the 1977 NLCS baseball championships. Philadelphia Phillies fans gave the nickname because the Phillies blew an early lead against the Los Angeles Dodgers and a controversial call was made during the game
"Black Friday", a title of a poem written by Dennis Rader, the BTK killer

Answer 5

When companys are in the "black", they're making a profit vs. when they're in the "red", which means they're losing money. Many compnies sell so much on Black Friday that it puts them in the "black" for the entire year.

Answer 6

because the sun is blacked out by all the swarms of mad shoppers rushing into the stores.

Answer 7

I guess because its the worst shopping day of the year.

Answer 8

A lot of negative things happened on that day.

Answer 9

jesus died... your an idiot