Some interesting info about Black Friday from our friends at Wikipedia:
The earliest uses of "Black Friday" refer to the heavy traffic on that day, an implicit comparison to the extremely stressful and chaotic experience of Black Tuesday (the 1929 stock-market crash) or other black days. The earliest known references to "Black Friday" (in this sense) are from two newspaper articles from November 29, 1975, that explicitly refer to the day’s hectic nature and heavy traffic. The first reference is in an article entitled "Army vs. Navy: A Dimming Splendor," in The New York Times:
“Philadelphia police and bus drivers call it "Black Friday" – that day each year between Thanksgiving Day and the Army-Navy game. It is the busiest shopping and traffic day of the year in the Bicentennial City as the Christmas list is checked off and the Eastern college football season nears conclusion.”
The derivation is made even more explicit in an Associated Press article entitled "Folks on Buying Spree Despite Down Economy," which ran in the Titusville Herald on the same day:
“Store aisles were jammed. Escalators were nonstop people. It was the first day of the Christmas shopping season and despite the economy, folks here went on a buying spree. . . . . "That’s why the bus drivers and cab drivers call today ‘Black Friday,’" a sales manager at Gimbels said as she watched a traffic cop trying to control a crowd of jaywalkers. "They think in terms of headaches it gives them.”
However, the definition I know best is the one that follows:
“Most contemporary uses of the term focus instead on the theory that retailers traditionally operated at a financial loss for most of the year (January through November) and made their profit during the holiday season. When this would be recorded in the financial records, once-common accounting practices would use red ink to show negative amounts and black ink to show positive amounts. Black Friday, under this theory, is the beginning of the period where retailers would no longer have losses (the red) and instead take in the year’s profits (the black).”
Well, that’s what we get tomorrow. One of the busiest shopping days of the year and a day I refuse to step into a store this year. Last year I tempted the fates and hit Best Buy and Target at 6:00 in the morning and that was enough for me. Sure, I got some great deals, but the wait in the lines really made me wonder if it was worth it. And the people shopping were just jerks. If you want to tempt the crowds, here are some things you can find on the cheap side.
BEST BUY (Sale begins at 5:00 am)
300 – $6.99
50 Various DVDs for $4.99 (see them here)
A Few Good Men – $2.49
All HBO Television Series DVDs – 50% OFF (this includes box sets)
All Spongebob Squarepants Titles – 50% OFF
Big Daddy – $2.49
House: Season 2 – $14.99
How I Met Your Mother – $14.99
King Kong (Peter Jackson version) – $2.49
Knocked Up: Unrated – $2.49
Las Vegas: Uncut & Uncensored – $14.99
By Best Friend’s Wedding – $2.49
Nip/Tuck: Season 3 – $14.99
Rolling Stones: The Biggest Bang (4 DVD) – $29.99
Smallville: Season 5 – $14.99
The OC: Season 4 – $14.99
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Running Down a Dream – $29.99
Rescue Me – $14.99
Family Guy: Volume 4 – $14.99
CIRCUIT CITY (Sale begins at 5:00 am)
007: The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 – $18.99
24: Seasons 1-5 – $18.99 each
300 – $8.99
Animated Christmas Movies Box Set (Rudolph, Frosty and more) – $18.99
Arrested Development: Season 3 – $12.99
Assorted DVDs for $5.99 (see them here)
Assorted DVDs for $3.99 (see them here)
Assorted DVDs for $2.99 (see them here)
Battlestar Galactica: Season 1 – $18.99
Blood Diamond – $8.99
Boston Legal: Season 1 – $18.99
Casino Royale – $8.99
Charmed: Seasons 1&2 – $12.99
Criminal Minds – $12.99
Gilmore Girls: Seasons 1-4 – $14.99
House: Season 2 – $12.99
How I Met Your Mother: Season 1 – $12.99
King of Queens: Seasons 1-8 – $12.99
Knocked Up – $8.99
Las Vegas: Season 3 – $12.99
Monk: Seasons 1-3 – $12.99
My Name is Earl: Season 1 – $18.99
Nip/Tuck: Seasons 1-3 – $14.99
NYPD Blue: Seasons 1-4 – $12.99
Rules of Engagement: Season 1 – $12.99
Seinfeld: Seasons 1&2 – $14.99
Smallville: Seasons 1-5 – $14.99
South Park: Seasons 1-10 – $18.99
Spongebob Squarepants: Season 1 – $12.99
The Departed – $8.99
The Girls Next Door: Seasons 1-2 – $12.99
The Office: Season 1 – $8.99
The Office: Season 2 – $12.99
The West Wing: Seasons 1-7 – $14.99
Weeds: Season 2 – $12.99
Surfs Up – $8.99
Wal Mart (Sale begins at 5:00 am)
24: Seasons 1-5 – $19.96
40-Year Old Virgin – $5.88
Assorted DVDs for $2.96 (over 65 movies, not listed)
Assorted Recent DVDs for $9.72 (Mr Brooks, Casino Royale, Surfs Up and Ghost Rider shown. More promised)
Beyonce DVD – $9.72
Dale Earnhardt Collection – $24.96
DaVinci Code – $5.88
Eragon – $5.88
Flicka – $5.88
Ice Age – $5.88
Pursuit of Happyness – $5.88
Sopranos: Season 1-3 – $19.96
Sopranos: Seasons 4, 5 and 6.1 – $29.96
Stomp the Yard – $5.88
The Illusionist – $5.88
Walk the Line – $5.88
Target (Sale begins at 6:00am)
24: Season 5 – $14.98
300 – $5.98
A Christmas Story – $5.98
Annie – $3.98
Batman Returns – $3.98
Blades of Glory – $9.98
Blood Diamond – $3.98
Casino Royale – $9.98
Click – $3.98
Family Guy: Vol 3 – $14.98
Family Guy: Vol 4 – $14.98
Hairspray – $15.00
Happy Feet – $5.98
Hot Fuzz – $9.98
House: Season 1&2 – $14.98
Ice Age – $5.98
Knocked Up – $9.98
Live Free or Die Hard – $15.00
Monk: Season 4 – $14.98
Monster House – $3.98
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – $5.98
Night at the Museum – $9.98
Open Season – $5.98
Ratatouille – $14.00
Rescue Me: Season 3 – $14.98
The Santa Clause 3 – $15.00
Seinfeld: Season 8 – $14.98
Shrek the Third – $14.00
South Park: Season 10 – $14.98
Surf’s Up – $9.98
The Departed – $5.98
The Devil Wears Prada – $5.98
The Gilmore Girls: Season 6 – $14.98
The Goonies – $3.98
The Holiday – $3.98
The Notebook – $3.98
The Office: Season 1 – $9.98
The Office: Season 2 – $14.98
The Polar Express – $5.98
The Pursuit of Happyness – $5.98
The Shawshank Redemption – $3.98
Wedding Crashers – $3.98