Were you among the crowds camped outside retail stores early this morning, hoping to cash in on Black Friday deals? Perhaps you can even see yourself reflected in these Christmas ornaments hanging in New York City’s Macy’s department store. The day after Thanksgiving is big business for retailers. Last year, 174 million Americans shopped on Black Friday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation, presumably moving retailers’ balance sheets from red (losses) to black (profits). But the term ‘Black Friday’ has a darker history. It was originally used to describe a financial crisis in 1869, and later adopted by Philadelphia police to describe post-Thanksgiving chaos at department stores in their city. Retailers later co-opted the phrase ‘Black Friday,’ giving it more positive connotations–a shift toward profitability at the start of the crucial holiday shopping season.
Let the holiday shopping commence
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Four Sisters, thousands of trees
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Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, England
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Nha Phu Bay, Nha Trang, Vietnam
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A stroll above the stratosphere
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Sea Otter Awareness Week
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Château de Villandry, France
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A Flag Day tradition
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Meandering through Patagonia
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Northern coast of Colombia
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Women s History Month
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A cliffside harbor in Sardinia
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Pretty, pretty…butterfly?
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Sailing across the ice
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Whale hello there!
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Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships
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Manatees rebound
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A triumph of light
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Festivus
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Red squirrel
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Festival of British Archaeology
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Bournemouth beach huts
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Canada s $20 view
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The Bahamas
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Father s Day
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A truly American monument
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White trilliums blooming in Ontario, Canada
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National Lighthouse Day
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Presidents hear the echo of history
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Happy Arbor Day!
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Pamukkale, Turkey