Black Friday once
meant more than discounts

Robyn’s ’Hood
By Robyn McCloskey

Never having been much of a shopper (one of the many reasons, I might point out, that my husband loves me), I’ve never gotten up at 5 on the morning after Thanksgiving to be the first in line at Wal-Mart to buy the latest technological gizmo at a special price available only to the first 100 customers.
I’ve also never spent Thanksgiving morning eyeballing every inch of the newspaper for the best sales at the best prices at the best stores. I’ve never made it my personal goal to join the fight that ensures Toys ’R Us will dig itself out of the red on the day after Turkey Day.
I am, of course, referring to the day that has become a common part of our shopping vernacular — Black Friday. The day when retailers across the country open their doors before most of us have opened our eyes.
But the term "Black Friday" didn’t always refer to shopping. The reference also holds historical significance.
For example there was Sept. 24, 1869, a Friday when a couple of conniving speculators named James Fisk and Jay Gould, who happened to have familial access to our president at the time, Ulysses S. Grant, sought to corner the gold market. The duo’s golden scheme caused the New York Gold Exchange to crumble, resulting in financial ruin for many.
Fisk and Gould, however, walked away financially unscathed. Interesting how things haven’t changed much in 138 years. Just ask Martha Stewart. Sure, she spent some time in a plush prison after that stock-selling fiasco, but she’s still rich.
Or how about the Black Friday on Nov. 18, 1910, when 300 British suffragettes campaigned outside the House of Commons to advance the cause of women’s rights, in particular the right to vote. When this was discouraged by the powers that be, including one Mr. Winston Churchill, at the time a conservative Parliament member, the angry activists clashed with police, leading to numerous arrests and treatment of injuries on both sides.
I’m not sure what these women were thinking, taking on the imposing Mr. Churchill, a man who supposedly once retorted to a woman shocked by his inebriation, "I may be drunk, miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."
That Winston always did have a way with the ladies, especially suffragettes.
There’s also the Black Friday of Jan. 13, 1939, when Victoria, Australia, suffered its worst natural bush fires to date. Or the Black Friday of March 19, 1982, which set off the territorial chain of events that led Argentina to invade the Falkland Islands and fight British troops.
These are just a few of the historically significant "Black Fridays" before the term became popular in the 1970s as the day-after-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza that would start retailers "in the black," or highly profitable, at the kickoff of the gift-buying season.
The Internet, not to be outdone, has now hatched "Cyber Monday." That’s the Monday that follows Black Friday and offers special deals to online shoppers. It’s also a convenience for all the people who fought the Black Friday crowds and on Monday morning are too bruised and battered to go to work. Cyber Monday enables them to apply a couple of icepacks as they sit at their computers and shop for the people still on their lists.
Brilliant idea! It sure takes the pressure off, knowing that if your local toy store is sold out of the Zac Effron doll from High School Musical 2 on Black Friday, there’s always Cyber Monday to sit at your computer, relax in your jammies, sip some coffee and order that doll online.
And there’s never a line.
So while Wikipedia defines Black Friday as "a Friday darkened by catastrophe," here’s hoping that wasn’t the case for everyone who was brave enough to shop on only four hours’ sleep.
Hopefully it was a Friday of great deals and few bruises.
As for me, I’m starting to like that Cyber Monday. ••
Robin McCloskey’s column appears each week in the Northeast Times. She can be reached at crmccloskey@verizon.net