Introduction Background The term “Black Friday” was first used during in 1869. On September 24, the U.S. gold market crashed ("American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series”). Two financiers named Jim Fisk and Jay Gould cheated Wall Street investors, which caused the Wall Street Panic of 1869 ("American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series”). These days, Black Friday refers to the day after Thanksgiving. Retailers will market large discounts to their consumers to initiate the start of holiday season shopping (“Black Friday”). Black Friday in terms of today’s use is commonly rumored to have originated from the color of ink used when retail financial statements turn from red to black; red indicates a loss in revenue and black …show more content…
It is a ritual for three reasons: it occurs annually, is symbolic of American values, and is highly participated in. Rituals, as agreed by researchers are defined as “socially standardized and repetitive communicative activities that are imbued with symbolism” (Bell 237). Examples of rituals include college binge drinking, wedding ceremonies, birthday celebrations, and gift giving during Christmas. Black Friday is undoubtedly an American ritual. As a ritual, Black Friday indicates that shoppers value four sacred objects; materialism, Christmas, relational bonding, and tradition (Bell 235). Materialism in this context is searching “good deals.” By participating in the largest shopping event of the year (figure 1), shoppers are valuing the importance of getting a good discount (Bell 243). Christmas is a sacred object because consumers value the concept of gift-giving, as many Black Friday shoppers are shopping for holiday gifts (Bell 244). Relational bonding is described as the time spent shopping with other fellow shoppers, including family, friends, and strangers (Bell 243). Black Friday shopper will typically shop in groups rather than alone. And finally by participating in Black Friday, consumers are valuing tradition (Bell 244). As research has shown, many shoppers attend to simply follow the annual tradition, rather than have a specific
When “Black Tuesday” struck Wall Street on October 29th, 1929 investors traded 16 million shares on the on the New York Stock Exchange in just a day which caused billions of dollars to be lost and thousands of investors who got all their money wiped out. After the fallout of “Black Tuesday” America’s industrialized country fell down into the Great Depression which was one of the longest economic downfalls in history of the Western industrialized world. On “Black Tuesday” stock prices dropped completely. After “Black Tuesday” stock prices couldn’t get any worse or so they thought but however prices continued to drop U.S fell into the Great Depression, and by 1932 stocks were only worth about 20 percent of their value. Due to this economic downfall by 1933 almost half of America’s banks had failed. This was a major economic fallout which resulted in the Great Depression because it caused the economy to lose a lot of money and there was no way to dig themselves out of the hole of
Black Monday - Black monday was referred to as the biggest one day percentage drop in stock market history. This event occurred on the 19th of October in 1987, when the Dow Jones industrial Average dropped 22% in one day. It took over two years for the company to make up for their huge loss. Causes of this loss included low wages, and excessive loan amounts by
Black Friday was a day set forth initially to help the economy rise back up. Around this time of the
The summer of 1929 was the beginning of a recession for the American people, and many were optimistic in it passing quickly. On October 29, 1929, also known as Black Tuesday, the stock markets crashed and sent the world into an economic depression that did not end until the year 1939. This depression, known as the Great Depression, was the most dynamic, deepest, and longest depression that the Western World had ever experienced.
Finally, investors went into “panic mode” on October 24th, 1929, and began trading and dumping their shares, totaling a record of 12.9 million. Of course, following “Black Thursday,” the more well-known “Black Tuesday” ensued as a result of this. Between Black Monday and Black Tuesday, the market lost 24% of its value, and investors bought and traded over 28.9 million stocks. These stocks, now worthless, were used as firewood for some investor’s homes. The Dow Jones Company is perhaps the greatest example for this crash. Dow Jones started at 191 points at the beginning of 1928, then more than doubling to 381 points by September 1929. The crash caused their record 381 points to plummet to less than 41 p...
Imagine having to work on thanksgiving. Not only do those people miss out on Black Friday, but also miss out on time with your family. They also get to go to work more than likely sleep deprived, deal with unpleasant customers, and constant lines. Curtis West worked as a Macy’s employee. In his 24 years of work for them he had to work a total of 19 Black Fridays. He said it wasn’t bad when Black Friday started off, because it usually meant going in at 5 am on Friday. Now for sto...
•some stores actually have to fire workers during black friday because it lasts too long
However, in 1929 when stocks had soared to an all-time high, in September they plummeted. This day in history is known as Black Thursday and is remembered as the Wall Street Crash of 29. The crash hit people's interests hard. and Americans all over lost a lot of money. Banks had to spend all of the money they had on regaining the economy, and agricultural needs.
Beginning on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, a total of 14 billion dollars was lost in America’s economy. Near the end of the week the 14 billion turned into a total of 30 billion dollars (The Great Depression Facts). Many events during the Stock Market Crash caused damage to the economy and lifestyle of the country, ending with recuperations from The Depression.
Most Black Friday deals have already been announced and always a hit on Black Friday is video games. All three major video game companies, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, are in on the action and are all releasing their products with great deals.
Stores open on Thanksgiving Day have caused controversy worldwide. Both positive and negative sides of the argument are being heard this holiday season. According to the article “Many stores look at the pros and cons of being open on Thanksgiving Day” it states, “Many big stores do enough business to make the extra expense worth it.” This shows that larger stores already make enough money to pay their employees when open on a holiday. Based on what I read, smaller businesses may not be as fortunate when staying open on Thanksgiving, but the majority of stores will not be penalized when doing so. In addition, the author also stated that “Workers have complained that stores are putting profits over workers’ time to be with their families.” This
Charging out of the gated entrance, racing pushing and shoving. The people rush to the gathering of merchandise waiting for them with marked down prices. This behavior fits into the world of the apocalypse but the description is of the Friday every year after Thanksgiving. The best deals all year on merchandise you have to own, for gifts you have to give, in order to be any one, I mean every one will be there. Except me. News anchors are telling me that I am asking for Black Friday deals to start on Thursday, as I look around the living room in my house at six PM, I think they are wrong. I am not sure this show of financial over abundance is really all that important to me. Here are a list of deals I want on Black Friday, tuition, jobs, vacations, and innovation.
There is two sides at shopping on Thanksgiving. One is saying it is wrong that stores are open on thanksgiving. People should spend time with their families not shop. People say that it is a family holiday not a shopping holiday. The other side says they like shopping on thanksgiving. They like it because there is deals that don’t happen a ton so they go out and go shopping. Overall, I think that there shouldn’t be shopping on thanksgiving for the reasons that vary. Those are reasons why people shop on thanksgiving and why not.
The term Black Friday was first used in the United States to describe a financial crisis in 1869. On September 24, 1869, James Fish and Jay Gould tried to take over the gold market in the New York Gold Exchange. The first time Black Friday referred to shopping the day after Thanksgiving was in this 1961 Philadelphia public relations newsletter:
Shopping is something that has to be done whether you enjoy it or not to get essentials needed. We all go places where merchandize is being sold for a specific reason. Whether you go to the mall, shopping centers, or your local grocery store, you 'll always encounter many types of shoppers. Shopping isn’t always as fun as it sounds to everyone, but it is something we often do. This is the only way we get products we need, by personally buying them. You have three main shoppers including impulse buyers, list makers, and bargain hunters.