Sometimes, America as a whole likes to let its hair down and let loose a little. In the case of Black Friday, the unofficial official start of the country’s holiday shopping season, it’s a way to burn off the calories ingested the day before on Thanksgiving and save some major bucks on big-ticket items. Considering Black Friday has a history of causing sane people to lose their minds in order to cash in on bargains that earn some retailers no money but a lot of publicity, it’s to be expected things can get out of hand.
Fights, beatings, gunshots, murder…they’ve all become part of the risk Americans take in order to get 80 percent off anything in one 24-hour time span. Philadelphia police despised the frenzy the day caused back in the ’60s, and are often credited with throwing the Black Friday moniker on the day. Despite the negative origin story to the Black Friday name, it looks good on retail fliers, so here we are. Put on those elbow pads and get ready to find the deal of a lifetime. Even if it maims or kills you.
Story by Jay Moon
Sources
- What Is Black Friday? Sales and Trends
- 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Black Friday
- Black Friday statistics
- Why Is Black Friday Called Black Friday?
- More holiday shoppers turned off by Black Friday, report finds
