Black Friday History: How Philadelphia Police Slang Became a Month-Long Sales Season

Last updated: October 22, 2026

Black Friday started as a complaint, not a celebration. This guide traces the real Black Friday history from a 1869 gold crash to Philadelphia traffic cops, Cyber Monday and Australia, with sources for every date. It also gives you the Black Friday 2026 calendar and shows when retailers really released their 2025 Black Friday ads.

Quick Answer: Where Did Black Friday Come From?

Black Friday is named after Philadelphia police slang from the 1950s and early 1960s. Officers used it for the day after Thanksgiving, when shoppers and Army-Navy game crowds jammed Center City. Retailers later recast it as the day stores go “into the black” (turn a profit), but that story only appeared in the 1980s.

Key Observations

• The first famous “Black Friday” was a gold market crash on September 24, 1869, not a shopping day.
• The shopping meaning is first recorded in Philadelphia in 1961 and spread nationally decades later.
• The slavery origin story is false: fact checkers found no evidence for it.
• Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, in both the US and Australia.
• In 2025, big US retailers announced Black Friday plans between October 20 and November 10.

Sources: HISTORY, Ben Zimmer, Vocabulary.com, US Courts 2026 federal holiday schedule.

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Contents

• Why is it called Black Friday?
• Did Black Friday start with slavery?
• Black Friday timeline: 1869 to 2026
• How did Black Friday grow into a season?
• When is Black Friday 2026?
• When do Black Friday ads come out?
• How long do Black Friday sales last?
• Black Friday in Australia: history
• What Black Friday history means for your 2026 marketing
• Black Friday history FAQs
• Sources and how this guide was made

Why Is It Called Black Friday?

Black Friday is called Black Friday because Philadelphia police used the name for the chaotic day after Thanksgiving. Suburban shoppers and visitors in town for the Army-Navy football game, played that Saturday, filled the streets. The crowds gave officers headaches, so the name was a grumble, not a sales slogan, according to HISTORY and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

What did Philadelphia police mean by “Black Friday”?

Philadelphia police meant the worst traffic day of the year. Joseph P. Barrett, a former Evening Bulletin reporter, wrote that the name came from the police traffic squad. He said he and police reporter Nathan Kleger put it in a front-page Thanksgiving story in the early 1960s (The Philadelphia Inquirer archive, first printed in 1994).

Two early print records back him up:

• December 18, 1961: Public Relations News uses the term in its shopping sense (Vocabulary.com).
• January 1966: a column in The American Philatelist, by Martin Apfelbaum of a Philadelphia stamp dealer, says the police name is “not a term of endearment to them” (American Dialect Society list).

Did Philadelphia try to rename it “Big Friday”?

Yes, but it failed. Barrett says Police Commissioner Albert N. Brown pushed “Big Friday” in a press release the year after his story, and it never caught on (Inquirer archive).

Where does the “in the black” explanation come from?

The “in the black” story says stores ran at a loss (red ink) until the day after Thanksgiving pushed them into profit (black ink). It is a later rebrand. HISTORY says retailers spread this version in the late 1980s, and Vocabulary.com, drawing on research by Bonnie Taylor-Blake, dates its first appearance to the 1980s (Vocabulary.com).

Was Black Friday named after the 1869 gold crash?

No, but the 1869 crash is the first famous Black Friday. On September 24, 1869, financiers Jay Gould and Jim Fisk tried to corner the US gold market, and prices collapsed (HISTORY). The phrase had named disasters and financial panics since the 1700s (Vocabulary.com), so it suited a day police dreaded.

Did Black Friday Start With the Sale of Enslaved People?

No. The claim that Black Friday began as a day when enslaved people were sold at a discount is false. PolitiFact rated a viral version of it False in 2021 (PolitiFact).

The viral post dated the “first Black Friday” to 1904, almost four decades after slavery ended in the US in 1865. HISTORY also says the story has no basis in fact.

The photo shared with the myth is not from America at all. PolitiFact found it shows Aboriginal prisoners in Western Australia, first published in 1905, with no link to Black Friday. The real paper trail runs through 1869 finance and 1960s Philadelphia traffic.

Black Friday Timeline: Key Dates From 1869 to 2026

This dated Black Friday timeline links each event to its source.

How Did Black Friday Grow From One Day Into a Sales Season?

Black Friday grew because retailers and card companies kept adding days around it. Three moves shaped today’s five-day weekend.

Why did Roosevelt move Thanksgiving?

In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November to give Depression-era stores a longer Christmas shopping season. The change caused a national row, so in 1941 Congress set the holiday on “the fourth Thursday in November” (National Archives). That law is why Black Friday can fall anywhere from November 23 to 29.

When did Cyber Monday start?

Cyber Monday started in November 2005, when Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation’s digital arm, Shop.org, named it in a press release. Online sales were climbing, and many people shopped from faster office internet connections after the long weekend (KVUE Verify). The same 2005 survey found more than 37% of consumers planned to shop online at work.

When did Small Business Saturday start?

Small Business Saturday started in 2010, when American Express created it during the recession as the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 2011, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting the day (American Express).

How big is the Black Friday weekend now?

The 2025 Thanksgiving weekend drew a record 202.9 million US shoppers, up from 197 million in 2024, according to the National Retail Federation. Black Friday drew 85.7 million online shoppers and 80.3 million in stores, while Cyber Monday reached 75.9 million online. By that weekend, 84% of consumers had already started holiday shopping.

When Is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, 2026. Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026 (US Courts 2026 federal holiday schedule), and Black Friday is always the next day. Australia uses the same Friday.

Here is the Black Friday 2026 calendar, with the dates worked out from the 2026 Thanksgiving date.

When Do Black Friday Ads Come Out?

Black Friday ads from major US retailers now come out in late October to early November, between about 2 and 6 weeks before Black Friday. In 2025, Best Buy, Walmart and Target all announced their plans in October, and Amazon followed on November 10. In 2018, most retailers still waited until November.

The table compares when retailers released Black Friday 2017 and 2025 ads. The 2017 dates come from a 2018 Scripps report citing BFads.net; the 2025 dates come from retailer press releases and the 9to5Toys deal schedule.

Sources: 10News (Scripps), 2018; Walmart, Oct 27, 2025; 9to5Toys, Target, Oct 30, 2025; 9to5Toys 2025 schedule.

Black Friday 2017 was November 24, so Target’s ad came 18 days ahead. In 2025, Target announced 29 days ahead of November 28. If retailers keep the 2025 pattern, most 2026 announcements will land between about October 19 and November 9, but check each retailer’s newsroom, because dates change every year.

Retailers also release details in stages. Target announced its early sale on October 30, 2025, then gave full Black Friday details on November 20 (Target press release).

How Long Do Black Friday Sales Last?

Black Friday sales last anywhere from one day to more than a month, depending on the retailer. The core weekend runs five days, Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, but big retailers now open “early Black Friday” events weeks before. Here is how long 2025 sales ran at four of them:

• Best Buy: early deals from October 31, with the Black Friday sale running November 20 to 29 and Cyber Monday deals to December 1 (9to5Toys).
• Walmart: two events, November 14 to 16 and November 25 to 30, then Cyber Monday on December 1 (Walmart).
• Amazon: Black Friday deals from November 20 through Cyber Monday, December 1, about 12 days (9to5Toys).
• Target: Black Friday deals from Sunday, November 23 through Saturday, November 29, with a Cyber Monday event to December 1 (Target).

In Australia, the Australian Retailers Association treats Black Friday to Cyber Monday as a four-day event. For 2025 that ran from 28 November to 1 December (ARA and Roy Morgan).

When Did Black Friday Start in Australia?

Black Friday took hold in Australia in the mid-2010s. Australians first shopped US sales online, then local retailers joined. Inside Retail reported in December 2016 that more Australian retailers had joined over the previous three years, with David Jones, Myer, Kogan, Cotton On, The Iconic and eBay all running sales that year (Inside Retail).

Adoption was gradual. In November 2017, social researcher Mark McCrindle said a quarter of Australians had never heard of Black Friday (SBS News). Some department stores even avoided the name at first: in 2016 Myer ran a “Super Cyber Sale” instead.

Today the event is part of the official numbers. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said Black Friday drove November 2022 retail turnover to a record high, and that the effect “is increasing over time” (ABS). For 2025, the ARA and Roy Morgan forecast a record A$6.8 billion in Black Friday to Cyber Monday spending, up 4% on the year before (Roy Morgan).

Australia has no Thanksgiving, so Black Friday there is simply the US date borrowed. Because Australian time zones are ahead of the US, Australian Black Friday sales start before American ones.

What Black Friday History Means for Your 2026 Marketing

This section is for business owners. Black Friday history shows three patterns that should shape a 2026 plan: the season keeps starting earlier, new named days keep appearing, and Australia now runs on the same calendar.

1. Start before the big retailers announce. Ad announcements moved from early November in 2017 to late October in 2025. Campaigns that launch in Black Friday week compete with brands that have been collecting data for a month.
2. Plan the five-day weekend as one window. Cyber Monday (2005) and Small Business Saturday (2010) turned one day into five. Budgets, ad copy and email should cover Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, not only Friday.
3. Treat Australia as a separate launch. Same Friday, earlier clock. Schedule Australian ads and emails on local time, not US time.

Our Black Friday marketing strategies guide turns these patterns into a full plan for ecommerce and local businesses. For paid media, our Black Friday advertising guide covers Google Ads, Shopping, Performance Max and Meta budgets. You can test spend levels with the free Google Ads budget calculator.

Why choose Hustle Marketers or Ishant Sharma for Black Friday marketing?

Hustle Marketers was founded in 2020 by Ishant Sharma, who has worked in Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and SEO since 2013. The agency is a Google Partner, Meta Business Partner and Microsoft Advertising Partner, with 591+ reviews across Google, Trustpilot, Clutch, G2, DesignRush, Upwork and other platforms, and Clutch Award wins in 2023, 2024 and 2026.

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Black Friday History FAQs

Is Black Friday a federal holiday?

No. Black Friday is not a US federal holiday. The 2026 federal holiday schedule lists Thanksgiving on November 26 but not the day after.

What was the first Black Friday?

The first well-known Black Friday was the gold market crash of September 24, 1869. The shopping meaning came almost a century later, in 1960s Philadelphia.

What does “in the black” mean?

“In the black” is an accounting phrase for making a profit, because bookkeepers once wrote profits in black ink and losses in red. Retailers attached it to Black Friday in the 1980s.

Is the Black Friday slavery story true?

No. Fact checkers found no evidence linking Black Friday to slave sales, and the photo often shared with the claim shows prisoners in Western Australia.

Why is Black Friday after Thanksgiving?

Black Friday follows Thanksgiving because the holiday has long marked the start of Christmas shopping. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving earlier in 1939 for exactly that reason: to give stores a longer season.

Is Black Friday on the same day in Australia?

Yes. Australia follows the US date, so Black Friday 2026 is Friday 27 November in both countries, with Cyber Monday on 30 November.

When is Small Business Saturday 2026?

Small Business Saturday 2026 is November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. American Express started it in 2010.

When should a business start planning for Black Friday?

Our view at Hustle Marketers is to start 8 to 12 weeks ahead. That leaves time to fix product feeds, check tracking and let new campaigns gather data before retailers announce their deals.

Sources and How This Guide Was Made

This refresh was researched on October 21 and 22, 2026. Dates come from primary and archival sources where possible, including the National Archives, Philadelphia newspaper archives, NRF, the ABS and retailer press releases. A person fact-checks every date and figure before this page goes live.

Changelog, October 22, 2026: added sourced origin and myth answers, a dated timeline, the 2026 calendar, ad release dates and Australian history.