Date:         Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:14:25 -0400
Reply-To:     American Dialect Society <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       American Dialect Society Mailing List <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Bonnie Taylor-Blake <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      [1966] "Black Friday" (day after Thanksgiving)
Comments: To: [log in to unmask]
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Because it's never too early to be thinking about Thanksgiving and Black
Friday, I submit what follows as a nail in the coffin of that "from red ink
to black ink" explanation for how this particular Friday got its name.

By the way, Google Books provided a not-very-helpful snippet view of the
following advertisement, which appeared in the January 1966 issue (Volume
79, No. 4, p. 239) of *The American Philatelist*.  Thanks go to Ellen
Peachey of the American Philatelic Research Library (Bellefonte,
Pennsylvania); she came to the rescue, locating the text in question and
sending the appropriate PDF to me, all with good humor.

-- Bonnie

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[This advertisement is in the form of a column written by Martin L.
Apfelbaum, Executive Vice President of Earl P.L. Apfelbaum, Inc., of
Philadelphia.  PDF available upon request.]


*Philadelphia's "Black Friday"*

JANUARY 1966 -- "Black Friday" is the name which the Philadelphia Police
Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day.  It is not a
term of endearment to them.  "Black Friday" officially opens the Christmas
shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams
and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to
closing.

This year proved to be no exception -- especially at Apfelbaum's.  The pace
was hectic and the traffic was heavy.  Here's a capsule report of how
Apfelbaum's weathered "Black Friday."

[...]

All in all, "Black Friday" certainly lived-up to its reputation.  In fact it
lasted for two days, with more of the same traffic and congestion the
Saturday which followed.

Is this activity unusual?  A little.  But just stop in on any day of the
week and you will see more action at Apfelbaum's than at any stamp shop in
the world.

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