Black Friday TIDBITS

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone and so today we begin what has become known as Black Friday. Your friends at your favorite daily decided to put together some interesting tidbits on what is easily the busiest shopping day of the year!

The term Black Friday, to many older Americans, refers to the stock market crash in 1869 when the price of gold dropped through the floor. Many a fortune was lost after two men, James Fisk and Jay Gould, made a run on gold. Over a few weeks, they bought as much gold as they could, and then attempted (through president Ulysses S. Grant’s son-in-law) to sway the president to put a limit on how much gold could be had – a move that would have sent the price even higher. Grant, however, took the opposite approach and ordered the U.S. to put some gold in the market – crashing the price. The ensuing chaos caused the stock market to plummet and Sept. 24, 1869 became known as Black Friday.

Here’s a Black Friday deal from your friends at the Department of Natural Resources. Today, anyone participating in the annual Opt Outside promotio can get free admission to any DNR property that charges a gate fee. Those who Opt Outside will also be entered in drawings for DNR annual passes, lake permits, Outdoor Indiana subscriptions, Smokey Bear materials, gift cards and DNR staff-led outdoor experiences. To participate, you can do one, two or all three of the following to increase your chances of winning prizes:

1. Share your photos. Post photos of your outdoor Black Friday on DNR social media using the hashtag #OptOutsideIN2021.

2. Opt Outside Scavenger Hunt. Download and complete the Opt Outside Scavenger Hunt found at on.IN.gov/optoutside at any DNR property, then return it to [email protected] to be entered in a separate drawing for prizes and experiences.

3. Check in at a property with the Indiana State Nature Passport. As a bonus this year, if you check in at any DNR property currently listed in the Indiana State Nature Passport Program at visitindiana.com/explore or if you complete the Opt Outside Scavenger Hunt and enter the special Nature Passport Scavenger Hunt PIN, you will be entered in a drawing for a 2022 Annual Entrance Pass and an Outdoor Indiana magazine subscription.

It’s only been the last couple of decades where Black Friday turned into the busiest shopping day of the year. Until 2001, that honor always belonged to the Saturday before Christmas.

In Mexico, according to at least one published report, the term Black Friday isn’t used. Instead, south of the border they refer to it as El Buel Fin – which translates into the good weekend.

It’s been 10 years since Walmart decided to open on Thanksgiving. At first, the retail giant just opened in the evening. Others followed suit and the term Gray Thursday was born. Add to that Cyber Monday and without a doubt this weekend is indeed the largest shopping period of the year in the U.S.

RetailMeNot said the results of a survey show that more than 1 in 10 Black Friday shoppers are tipsy when shopping!

RetailMeNot also said that 19 percent of shoppers get their Christmas gifts purchased in August – 18 percent in September, 22 percent in October, 24 percent before Thanksgiving and 17 percent on Black Friday or later.

Black Friday, in reference to Christmas shopping, started in the 1950s in the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia police coined the term when shoppers from the suburbs would flock into the city. In addition, the Army-Navy football game drew thousands and it always took place in Philadelphia on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The chaos from both groups is what helped create the term. Interestingly, some PR types tried to change it to Big Friday a few years later. As you know, it didn’t stick.

According to US News & World Report, more people have died while shopping on Black Friday than were killed by shark attacks. Since 2006, seven people have died and 98 have been hurt in the U.S. The biggest cause is usally stampedes and fights. In the ocean, there’s an average of 16 shark attacks each year in the U.S. and only one fatality every two years.