❗Let's close the gap: We still need your help to raise $40,000 by April 1. Donate now

How the day after Thanksgiving came to be known as Black Friday

Mitchell Hartman Nov 19, 2018
HTML EMBED:
COPY
The 24th of September 1869: Panic on 'Black Friday' in the New York Gold Room. Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images

How the day after Thanksgiving came to be known as Black Friday

Mitchell Hartman Nov 19, 2018
The 24th of September 1869: Panic on 'Black Friday' in the New York Gold Room. Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

This Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, is ubiquitously referred to as “Black Friday” by retailers, consumers and the media. We wondered: What does the term mean? And where’d it come from?

Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.