Two Black Fridays? Check it Out!

Information courtesy of Coupon Sherpa

The tale of two Black Fridays began with the first modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, which ended with an appearance by the jolly man in red. After this signal that "Santa had arrived," retailers brought out their Christmas decorations and launched their holiday advertising campaigns.

Before long, consumers came to accept the unwritten rule that stores couldn't begin advertising Christmas sales until Thanksgiving Day parades were over. Thus, the day after Thanksgiving -- later dubbed Black Friday -- became the official start of the Christmas shopping season.

In 1939, merchants appealed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. That year, November held five Thursdays, meaning Thanksgiving would fall on Nov. 30 and effectively cut a week off the holiday shopping season. Retailers wanted to keep that lucrative week, but no store wanted to incur the public's wrath by advertising before Turkey Day. The solution was simple: Franklin D. simply moved Thanksgiving's date from the final Thursday in November to one week earlier.

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