Over the years, Black Friday has become a fake national holiday. That said, when has that phrase been associated with excessive, joyful spending, surprising deals, and immense profits? Indeed, history has shown us that the word “Black” has long been associated with loss, devastation, or just plain bad luck. For example, the sell-off day right before the stock market crash of 1929 was called Black Monday. Another example occurred in 1954, it was called Black Wednesday as it was a day of widespread air traffic bedlam (Stout). In fact, the first use of the term Black Friday dates back to 1870, by the New York Times, in an article about the collapse of the gold market (Stout). Notably, an executive producer of Vocabulary.com, Ben Zimmer, stated that “its association with shopping on the day after Thanksgiving began in Philadelphia in 1960” (qdt. In Stout). This was mainly due to the hordes of consumers who went shopping, causing major traffic problems, so it became a less than positive reference. As a matter of fact, numerous retailers wanted that day to have a more positive name, like Big Friday, but it never caught on foot. Therefore, a new meaning was associated with Black Friday. According to Zimmer, that meaning was "The day the retailer's books turned from red ink to black" (qdt. In Stout). , there was an article in US News Digital Weekly titled “Black Friday by the Number” (Zalan). This quiz covered financial aspects such as the hottest toys, number of shoppers, and total retail workers hired for the 2012 Black Friday shopping season. Specifically, during that particular Thanksgiving weekend, shoppers spent on average $423 each. Additionally, an estimated 700,000… middle of paper… are keeping their businesses closed on Thanksgiving, along with consumers boycotting stores, even launching online petitions, and causing some workers to go on strike (Tuttle)? Works Cited “Black Friday Breakdown.” Newsweek. Newsweek LLC, November 28, 2011. Academic research completed. Web. March 18, 2014.Hauser, Christine. “The Spectacle and Sales of Black Friday.” New York Times. New York Times, November 29, 2013 Web. March 24, 2014. Stout, Hilary. “The Transformation of Black Friday.” New York Times, November 23, 2014. Web. March 24, 2014. Tuttle, Brad. And retailers have the guilt to stop ruining the season." Time.com. Time Inc., November 14, 2013. Academic research completed. Web. March 24, 2014. Zalan, Kira. “Black Friday By The Numbers.” New Digital Weekly in U.S. News, March 29, 2013. Academic research completed March 18 2014.