The History of Black Friday

A Mess of a Shopping Calendar

The beginnings of the actual Black Friday as we know it today, actually began when President Lincoln established the holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863, that it would occur the last Thursday in November. Stores began to offer deals from the day after, until Christmas, marking the official “Holiday Season.”

A Mess of a Shopping Calendar

However, as time went on, and the holiday shopping season became more established, retailers understood that depending on which day Thanksgiving fell, the shopping season could be severely limited, and thereby limit profits. So in 1939, President Roosevelt signed an executive order to move the holiday to the Fourth Thursday of the month. This allowed the holiday season maximize profits.