I bet you did not know all of these 10 Black Friday facts… or maybe you did

Black Friday is quickly approaching, which is why I wanted to take this opportunity to spit some facts at you. Below are 10 interesting Black Friday facts that I felt the need to share with you.

1. Black Friday has been around since the 19th century – Well, sort of. While the idea of post-Thanksgiving sales was not a thing until 1924, Black Friday was originally coined as a stock market term. It was used to describe the 1869 stock market crash.
2. Black Friday began in Philly – Yes, we have the City of Brotherly Love to thank for the biggest in-store shopping day of the year. Police coined it Black Friday when tourists flooded retail stores before the Army/Navy game back in the 1960s.
3. Shoppers spend around $1,000 on Black Friday – Oh the irony of saving. While you are bound to save big on Black Friday, you are also bound to spend a lot of money. I guess that’s the price of doing business.
4. Black Friday shoppers might have determined the timeline of Thanksgiving – Because the last Thursday of the month sometimes lands on November 30, shoppers complained Black Friday was too close to Christmas at times. That’s why Thanksgiving lands on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
5. Free shipping is a huge Black Friday commodity – Despite Black Friday starting in physical store, it has expanded to a lot of people ordering online. That’s why a lot of people look for free shipping now when it comes to Black Friday shopping.
6. Black Friday has been boycotted – Outdoor stores like REI encourage their employees to get outside instead of shopping or working. Maybe other stores will start to do the same so their employees don’t have to work on Thanksgiving night.
7. It’s Black Friday for plumbers too – Flooded stores means flooded bathrooms. There are more clogged toilets and overflowing sinks on Black Friday than any other day of the year. (I’m sure it doesn’t help that people stuffed their faces with tons of food the day before).
8. The best day to buy toys is… before Black Friday?! – That’s right. If you want to guarantee you get the hottest toys while getting a good deal on them, you should buy them the day before Thanksgiving.
9. Shoppers look for deals at the beginning of November – You know how a lot of stores started opening for Black Friday on the evening of Thanksgiving Day? Yeah, apparently that’s not early enough for some people. Shoppers start looking for deals during the first week of November.
10. Shoppers will wait around two and a half hours in line for Black Friday deals – So you are saying they could have caught most of Avengers Endgame while waiting for deals? That’s quite a long time to wait in line to save some dough.

There is no question Black Friday is a crazy day for shoppers and retailers alike. It’s a great day to save money for the upcoming Christmas season. It’s just odd we go right from showing our thankfulness to pushing people down to get the best TV in the store.