Black Friday and Bright Lights
November 28, 2008
Seeing the expression "Black Friday" in the news media aroused my curiosity. For some reason, I did not remember hearing or reading this expression in previous years. With a little research, I found that I was clearly out of it. According to the Wikipedia site, the expression originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s. Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and it is considered the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The expression. at its origin referred to the heavy traffic of that day and was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department. In 1975, the expression was used to include the traffic in Philadelphia that was even heavier due to the Army vs. Navy football game played that day. Today, it generally refers to the heavy shopping that puts retailers into the "black"; meaning that the volume of sales creates profit. In fact, for some retailers, the profit for the year is sometimes the result of a successful "Black Friday". If you google "Black Friday" on the Internet and go to the Wikipedia site, you will find an interesting discussion of this expression.
As for the "Bright Lights", Friday is the annual Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside. Riverside Community College's Marching Tigers Band will perform from 5:45p.m. until the 6:15 p.m. lighting ceremony. A switch will be flipped and the millions of lights decorating the historic Mission Inn will be lit. If you are not present for the "flipping of the switch", it is a worthwhile outing to visit the Mission Inn during the holidays. It will put you in an "up-beat holiday spirit!
Seeing the expression "Black Friday" in the news media aroused my curiosity. For some reason, I did not remember hearing or reading this expression in previous years. With a little research, I found that I was clearly out of it. According to the Wikipedia site, the expression originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s. Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and it is considered the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The expression. at its origin referred to the heavy traffic of that day and was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department. In 1975, the expression was used to include the traffic in Philadelphia that was even heavier due to the Army vs. Navy football game played that day. Today, it generally refers to the heavy shopping that puts retailers into the "black"; meaning that the volume of sales creates profit. In fact, for some retailers, the profit for the year is sometimes the result of a successful "Black Friday". If you google "Black Friday" on the Internet and go to the Wikipedia site, you will find an interesting discussion of this expression.
As for the "Bright Lights", Friday is the annual Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn in Riverside. Riverside Community College's Marching Tigers Band will perform from 5:45p.m. until the 6:15 p.m. lighting ceremony. A switch will be flipped and the millions of lights decorating the historic Mission Inn will be lit. If you are not present for the "flipping of the switch", it is a worthwhile outing to visit the Mission Inn during the holidays. It will put you in an "up-beat holiday spirit!
posted by shirley harry at 12:45 PM
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