Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day
- November 26, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Black Friday and Thanksgiving Day
Context: Black Friday this year falls on November 26, a day after Thanksgiving, which is the day when many online and offline retailers launch the “Black Friday” sales that offer products at discounted prices to consumers.
Thanksgiving
- Thanksgiving is a day that has been observed in the US since October 3, 1789 when President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789, as an official holiday of “sincere and humble thanks”.
- There is no evidence from before 1951 of Black Friday referring to the day following Thanksgiving
- President Abraham Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a nationwide holiday in 1863 since when it has been commemorated each year on the fourth Thursday of November.
Black Friday
- The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries defines ‘Black Friday’ as “the day after Thanksgiving in the US, the first day of traditional Christmas shopping, when stores have special offers to attract consumers”.
- Black Friday as a symbol of over-consumption that makes people buy products that are not needed, adding to waste generation and the subsequent carbon footprint.
- In the 1960s police officers complained about one Friday when the streets were congested and clogged with traffic. They called it “Black Friday”. Alternatively, it is believed to symbolise the US gold market crash of 1869.