No single person “invented” Black Friday as a shopping day; it evolved over time from several different events and practices.

What Black Friday Originally Meant

  • The phrase “Black Friday” first appeared in 1869 to describe a financial panic when speculators Jay Gould and Jim Fisk tried to corner the U.S. gold market, triggering a market crash.
  • For decades after, “Black Friday” in general English was used for various disasters or very bad days, not for shopping.

How It Became About Shopping

  • In the 1950s, Philadelphia police began calling the crowded, chaotic day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because of traffic jams, packed sidewalks, and extra work managing shoppers and visitors in town for the Army–Navy game.
  • Local usage spread, and by the 1970s–1980s retailers and media had popularized “Black Friday” nationwide as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.

The “In the Black” Explanation

  • A later marketing story claimed Black Friday was the day stores finally turned a profit for the year, going from “in the red” to “in the black” in their ledgers.
  • Historians note this is a back‑formed, positive spin; the traffic-and-chaos police slang in Philadelphia predates the accounting explanation.

So Who “Invented” It?

  • The 1869 financial “Black Friday” is tied to Gould and Fisk, but that event is separate from today’s shopping day.
  • The post‑Thanksgiving shopping “Black Friday” grew out of Philadelphia police slang and later retailer marketing, so it does not have a single inventor—rather, police, local media, and retailers collectively shaped it.

Recent and Trending Context

  • Over time, Black Friday has expanded from a single Friday into multi‑day and even multi‑week promotions, sometimes called “Black November,” especially with the rise of e‑commerce and global participation.
  • Modern discussions often focus on crowd safety, consumerism, and environmental impact, alongside online alternatives like Cyber Monday and extended holiday sales.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.