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How did Black Friday Get Its Name?

Intro:

Welcome to daily fun facts where we discuss fun facts about this crazy world. Use these newfound facts to break the ice and start an interesting conversation.  Happy learning everyone!

Dialogue:

Brie:  Andrea, Black Friday is almost here!  Do you know which stores open the earliest this year?  We have to make a plan about which ones to hit first for the best deals.  Otherwise, we’ll risk getting trampled upon by the deal hungry crowds!   

Andrea:  Normally, I would say I’m on it, Brie, but this year’s gonna be different with COVID-19 ravaging our city.  I sense that Black Friday, the biggest single day of shopping in the US, is quickly morphing into “Black November”.  I say this because this year, retailers are spacing their deals over the entire month rather than the typical day or weekend after Thanksgiving.

Brie:  I think having a “Black November” rather than a “Black Friday” is a good thing.  I heard that in years prior, a few people died from being crushed in crowd stampedes during the Black Friday savings events.  Is it because of these tragedies that the Friday after Thanksgiving has earned the name Black Friday?

Andrea:  Well, while those dark events certainly tarnished the reputation of the  shopping day as a fun, winter holiday event, that is not where the term originated.  According to the History Channel, the term Black Friday was first used to describe the financial crisis of September 1869.  At that time, two Wall Street financiers had cornered the US gold market through stockpiling gold and driving its price high. When the US government caught on to the financiers scheme, the government flooded the market through the sale of government owned gold.  As a result, over the course of a single Friday, the entire market collapsed!  This “Black Friday” was certainly a dark day for the US economy. 

Brie:  原来黑色星期五名字的由来和众人抢购货品导致的踩踏事件并没有什么必然联系。黑色星期五一词最初源于1869年9月开始的美国金融危机。华尔街的两位金融家是该场金融危机的始作俑者。他们策划了一场通过大量收购黄金来“垄断” 黄金市场，从而再以高昂的价格将黄金出售以谋取暴利的阴谋。美国政府被迫下令出售大量黄金储备，以防止他们的阴谋得逞。 这导致美国黄金市场在短短的一天内彻底崩盘. That’s interesting!  So, when did Black Friday become associated with shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving?

Andrea:  Oh, well that was in the 1950s!  Every year the city of Philadelphia held an American football game on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Because of this, the city would become crowded with tourists and fans excited to watch the sport.  They would spend the Friday before the game shopping crazily, and the police had to work long hours to control the crowds.  Some shoppers even took advantage of the crowds and chaos to shoplift.  The police used the term “Black Friday” to complain about their unhappy situation, and it stuck!

Brie:  黑色星期五和美国感恩节的购物狂欢真正关联上是在1950年代！ 当时，费城每年都会在感恩节后的星期六举行一场美式足球比赛。 在比赛开始前一天的星期五，大量的游客和球迷便会蜂拥而至费城疯狂购物，然后观看比赛，使得这座城市变得拥挤不堪，一些不法分子利用混乱乘机偷盗。为了控制混乱的情形，当地警察不得不长时间超负荷工作，“黑色星期五”便开始被警察用来形容当天因购物狂欢，球赛带来的糟糕情形。It’s funny the day is still called Black Friday, because now the shopping starts on Thursday after everyone finishes their large Thanksgiving meals. 

Andrea:  That trend started in 2011.  Actually, I prefer that over when it started at midnight or in the wee hours of the morning as it used to be.  People would sleep in the parking lot so they could be the first in line when the stores opened.  The retail industry likes Black Friday to start as early as possible, as this translates into a longer Christmas shopping season and more profits. When Thanksgiving first started, it was celebrated on a different Thursday in November each year.  However, the retail industry petitioned the government to change the date.  Thus, in 1941, the fourth Thursday of November became the official holiday.  

Brie:  感恩节最初的庆祝时间是不固定的。零售业为了尽可能地延长从感恩节到圣诞节来临之前的购物时长，请求政府更改了感恩节庆祝的时间，于是乎，自1941年以来，每年11月的第四个星期四被定为了法定的感恩节假日。哇，购物竟然改变了感恩节庆祝的传统日期，I thought the Thanksgiving holiday was a national day of giving thanks. Although we need to shop a lot to prepare for the feast, the holiday really has more to do with sharing than shopping.  

Andrea:  Shopping influenced the date of Thanksgiving, but, you are right, the holiday is really about coming together with family in the spirit of sharing and giving. 

Brie:  So if the date of Thanksgiving is important for shopping, what is it that people really want to buy?  

Andrea:  Many things, from electronics to household goods to toys, but the most popular item, is, surprisingly, pajamas!  I like to get what they call “doorbusters”, which are the items that are usually only available if you go to the store right when Black Friday begins.  Once I have those in hand, I pretty much shop till I drop! 

Brie:  I get it! So essentially you’re “busting the door” to the store in order to get the best deals, and then you’re shopping until you fall to the ground from exhaustion!  I bet Black Friday must be a very tiring day for retail workers and security guards.

Andrea:  It is, but you want to know who has the busiest day?

Brie:  Who?

Andrea:  Plumbers!  It turns out that the tradition of stuffing yourself with food on Thanksgiving produces a lot of clogged toilets on Black Friday!

Brie:  Ewww, ok that’s about enough of this fun fact!  That’s not what I want to know about Thanksgiving or Black Friday.  人们在感恩节假日里通常都会胡吃海喝，导致厕所管道堵塞，所以管道工人在该节假日里是最忙碌的人了。

Close:

So, everyone, there’s your fun fact of the day!  Let’s go over some of the vocabulary and phrases from this dialogue.

Vocabulary

Trample / ˈtræm pəl /  踩踏

Ravage  / ˈræv ɪdʒ /  肆虐

Morph  / mɔrf /  转变成

Retailer  /ˈri teɪlər /  零售业

Crowd  / kraʊd / 人群

Stampede  / stæmˈpid / 人群蜂拥而至

Tarnish  /ˈtɑr nɪʃ /  玷污，抹黑

Originate  / əˈrɪdʒ əˌneɪt /  起源，来源

Financier  / ˌfaɪn ənˈsɪər /  金融家

Corner (a market)  / ˈkɔr nər /  垄断

Stockpile  / ˈstɒkˌpaɪl /  奇货可居

Scheme  / skim /  阴谋

Associate  / əˈsoʊ ʃiˌeɪt /  使关联

Shoplift  / ˈʃɒpˌlɪft /  偷盗商品

Wee hours  / wi (aʊəz) /  凌晨

Translate  / trænzˈleɪt /  意味着

Feast  / fist /  盛宴

Petition  / pəˈtɪʃ ən /  正式请愿

Pajamas  / pəˈdʒæm əz  /  睡衣

Doorbuster  / ˈdɔrˌbʌs tər /  挤破门，形容开门大抢购

Plumber  / ˈplʌm ər  /  水管工人

Holidays

Black Friday  / blæk ˈfraɪdeɪ /  黑色星期五

Thanksgiving  / ˌθæŋksˈgɪv ɪŋ /  感恩节

People & Places:

Philadelphia  / ˌfɪl əˈdɛl fi ə / 费城

Phrases:

Shop till (someone) drop(s)  购物直到精疲力竭，瘫倒在地

Alright, join us next time for another fun fact to help break the ice! 好了，这就是我们今天的有趣常识分享，如果喜欢我们，请别忘了点击订阅！拜拜，咱们下期再见！

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