Fashion
The History of Black Friday: From a Gold Crash to the World’s Biggest Shopping Day
Nov
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Black Friday is the day after US Thanksgiving — and its name comes from Philadelphia police slang of the 1950s, not from shopping itself. Officers used “Black Friday” for the chaos of that Friday: massive crowds, traffic jams and the busiest shopping day of the year landing on the same weekend as the Army–Navy football game. Retailers later gave the name a friendlier meaning — the day their accounts went “into the black” — but that story came decades afterwards. Today the name belongs to the biggest retail event on earth, and in 2026 it falls on Friday 27 November. Here is the full Black Friday history, from a gold crash to a global shopping day.
1869: The First Black Friday Was a Gold Crash
The first famous “Black Friday” had nothing to do with shopping: it was Friday 24 September 1869, when two financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, tried to corner the US gold market. Their scheme pushed gold above $160 an ounce — until President Ulysses S. Grant ordered the sale of $4 million of government gold and the price collapsed to $133 within minutes. Fortunes vanished from Wall Street to farm towns, and the day was remembered as Black Friday: a name for financial disaster that had nothing to do with discounts, but everything to do with a Friday nobody forgot.
The 1950s: Philadelphia Police Coin the Shopping Meaning
The shopping meaning of Black Friday was born in Philadelphia in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Friday after Thanksgiving opened the Christmas shopping season in the city centre while crowds arrived for Saturday’s Army–Navy game. Police worked 12-hour shifts, were barred from taking the day off, and called the gridlock “Black Friday” — a complaint, not a celebration. The term appeared in print in its shopping sense in 1961. City merchants hated the gloomy label and campaigned in 1961 to rename it “Big Friday” — the rebrand failed completely, and Black Friday stuck.
The 1980s: Retailers Rebrand It “Into the Black”
The popular story that Black Friday is when shops move “into the black” — from red-ink losses to black-ink profit — only appeared in the 1980s. Its earliest print appearance was a 1981 Philadelphia Inquirer article, and retailers spread it nationwide because it turned a name about traffic misery into a name about shared prosperity. It is a better story than the truth, which is exactly why it won. One other viral claim — that the name refers to discounted sales of enslaved people — has been checked by historians and fact-checkers and found to have no factual basis at all. It remains the version of Black Friday history most people repeat today.
Black Friday Goes Global: Cyber Monday and the Online Era
Black Friday escaped the United States in the 2010s, carried by online retail. In 2005, the National Retail Federation coined “Cyber Monday” for the online sales surge the Monday after Thanksgiving, and the weekend became a four-day event. Amazon brought Black Friday to the UK around 2010, Walmart-owned Asda pushed it into British supermarkets, and France and Germany adopted it through the 2010s as “Black Friday” in English — an American name for what is now a global ritual. Online, the single day stretched into weeks of rolling deals every November.
Black Friday Today — and Where to Shop It in 2026
In 2026, Black Friday is an online-first, month-long event — Friday 27 November is the peak of a season of deals, not a single morning of queues. The smart shoppers research early, know their sizes, and buy the statement pieces before they sell out. If streetwear is on your list, start with Minus Two Black Friday deals — shorts down to $40.94, tracksuit sets at $122.85 and cargos from $70.77 at the official store — then browse the full Minus Two shop, the signature Minus Two cargo collection and the matching Minus Two tracksuits.
A Philadelphia policeman’s worst day of the year became the world’s biggest shopping day. However you shop it — enjoy the one Friday that 150 years of history built.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the questions people ask most about Black Friday history.
When was the first Black Friday?
The first famous Black Friday was 24 September 1869, the US gold market crash. The shopping meaning dates from Philadelphia in the 1950s and was first recorded in print in 1961.
Why is the day after Thanksgiving called Black Friday?
Philadelphia police named it for the crowds, traffic jams and long shifts of the year’s busiest shopping day in the 1950s. Retailers later popularised the “into the black” profit explanation in the 1980s.
Is the “in the black” story true?
It is a rebrand, not the origin. The profit story appeared in print in 1981, decades after police were already using the name — but it is true that the day became the most profitable of the year for many retailers.
When did Black Friday come to the UK, France and Germany?
During the 2010s, led by online retailers like Amazon. It is now a major sales event across Europe, usually keeping its English name.
What is the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday (the Friday after US Thanksgiving) began as an in-store event; Cyber Monday, coined in 2005, is its online-focused counterpart the following Monday. Today both blend into one long online sales period.
