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Black Friday 

BLACK FRIDAY: I always thought Black Friday was simply a Friday that fell on the 13th of any month. That was until this year (for the first time that I can recall) when I have received several emails re Black Friday Specials being offerd for today (Friday 29/11/13). I have established that this is just another USA based commercialisation of the calendar that is now being pushed onto us in Oz as part of an ever increasing internet-based global community (it appears that many in Oz have already caved in to the similar commercialised pushing onto us of Halloween!) . Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day and is a holiday in some states. Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season with many stores having special offers and lowering their prices on some goods, such as toys. Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday. The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.
 
I had always thought that Black Friday was simply a Friday that fell on the 13th of any month. That was until this year (for the first time that I can recall) when I have received several emails re Black Friday Specials being offered for Friday 29/11/13. I have established that this is just another USA based commercialisation of the calendar that is now being pushed onto us in Oz as part of an ever increasing internet-based global community ... it appears that many in Oz have already caved in to the now similarly commercialised celebration of Halloween!
  
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day in the USA and falls on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November. It is a busy shopping day and is a holiday in some states. Many people have a day off work or choose to take a day from their quota of annual leave on Black Friday. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season with many stores having special offers and lowering their prices on some goods, such as toys.
Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday. The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.
    
Kevin Rodda