Why is the day after Thanksgiving called ‘Black Friday’? Most people know Black Friday as the day when stores open much (1) (early) and offer various sales. Many people believe we call it ‘Black Friday’ because many stores become profitable on the huge (2) (shop) day and go ‘into the black’. ‘Black’ refers to stores moving from the ‘red’ to the ‘black’, as in the old times records were kept by hand, and the (3) (mean) of red ink was a loss, while black meant a profit.
But the true story of Black Friday is (4) (little) well-known. The expression ‘Black Friday’ was first used to describe 24 September, 1869, when two (5) (talent) investors, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, manipulated the price of gold and caused a crash. The stock market (6) (fall) 20% and foreign trade stopped.
In the 1950s, Philadelphia police used the term ‘Black Friday’ to refer to the day between Thanksgiving and the Army-Navy college football game. Huge crowds of shoppers and tourists went to the city that Friday, and cops had to work (7) (extreme) long hours to control the crowds. Shop (8) (own) tried to change the name to ‘Big Friday’, but the alternative name never got (9) (accept).
By the late 1980s, 'Black Friday' had become known with the more positive message of 'from red to black'.