The Friday after Thanksgiving is referred to as Black Friday. It is when most Americans take to the stores to capture the countless discounted items for the upcoming holiday season. Black Friday has become so popular in recent years; some shoppers shorten their Thanksgiving dinners and risk missing the excitement of the traditional football games, only to camp out in the cold for hours. They want to be the first in queue or line when the doors of the stores open.
Many shoppers prefer to skip the madness of Black Friday and shop online. If you are one of such shoppers, and there are items you select from Amazon, please go to Amazon Smile & donate to Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation (GWPF): As you make your purchases from Amazon.com, please do so by supporting GWPF at: AmazonSmile and Amazon will donate to Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation. #StartWithaSmile at AmazonSmile; Amazon will donate a percentage of what you spend to Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation, when you select GWPF as your favorite charity.
If you ever wondered about the origin of Black Friday, it dates back to as early as the 1800s. The day after Thanksgiving was not termed Black Friday in that century. The name was associated with September 24, 1869 when two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk created a “boom and bust” in gold prices. The first recorded Black Friday was not applied to holiday shopping, but to financial crisis, most especially, the crash of the gold market in the United States on September 24, 1869. Then gold market crashed, and those two men left Wall Street’s barons bankrupt on that day. In the early 17th century, Black Friday was known to be a slang term used by students, in the sense that examinations were held on Fridays.
Almost a century later, the day after Thanksgiving earned the name, Black Friday due to the volume of shoppers that created traffic accidents, and sometimes even violence. In the 1950s, employees began to call in sick the day after Thanksgiving, to give themselves a four-day weekend for shopping. The term became even more common in the 1960s, as it was referred to the congestion created by shoppers; it was later explained that the day after Thanksgiving was the day when retailers’ accounts went from being ‘in the red’ to being ‘in the black’. The earliest evidence of the phrase Black Friday applied to the day after Thanksgiving in a shopping context suggests that the term originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.
Now in 2019 in the U.S., the day after Thanksgiving (Friday) is known as Black Friday. It has almost become a national holiday, as it is even marked on some calendars. The day was once unofficially or officially the start of the holiday shopping season. However revenue-wise, it is reported that Black Friday is not the biggest day for stores. It is reported that in recent years, the biggest sales day include the actual Thanksgiving Day, Green Monday (the online retail industry term – the second Monday in December), and Cyber Monday (the day after Thanksgiving). Green Monday was coined by eBay in 2007 to describe the best sales day in December, usually the second Monday of December. EBay christened it Green Monday for two reasons. First, green meant revenue for their company. Second, eBay markets online shopping as environmentally friendly, or greener than brick-and-mortar stores. However Green Monday is no longer considered the busiest day, as shoppers are attracted to deals throughout Cyber Week.
Whether it is Black Friday, Giving Tuesday, Cyber Monday or Green Monday, Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation (GWPF) asks you to keep them in mind during this holiday season as you spend in physical stores or online. Please remember that with each dollar you spend on these days, a percentage could go to your favorite charity. Would you inform the clerk at checkout that you would like to donate a percentage of your payment to your favorite charity? Would you make GWPF your favorite charity this holiday season? When you do, please feel free to inform the organization that you have chosen it as your favorite charity, and you will be provided their tax identification number.
Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is a registered 501c3 not for profit organization with the Internal Revenue Service, and as such 100% of your donation is tax deductible. Thank you and have a safe and pleasant shopping on Black Friday.
Comments and questions to info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org or call (703) 832-2642
