A closer look
Black Friday was not originally coined to describe profitable retail sales, but rather originated in 1869 when two ruthless Wall Street financiers attempted to corner the national gold market and caused a massive economic crash. Retailers eventually hijacked the negative terminology decades later and desperately rebranded it as a joyous consumer holiday where people aggressively trample each other over discounted flat-screen televisions. It is wonderfully poetic that a day initially marked by corporate greed, market manipulation, and financial ruin is now officially celebrated through frantic, debt-fueled impulse purchasing at your local electronics megastore. Nothing quite captures the enduring spirit of American capitalism like turning a historical fiscal disaster into a mandatory marketing event to liquidate surplus inventory
