Black Friday

Today is Black Friday - everyone knows the day after Thanksgiving is considered the commencement of the Christmas shopping season and is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The most common explanation for the origin of the term Black Friday is that it is the start of profitability of many businesses - putting them in the black (an accounting term hearkening back to when accountants used red ink for loss and black for profits). In actuality, many businesses do rely on holiday sales to show a profit for the entire year. An older origin of the term is an implied comparison to stress and chaos of other black days such as Black Tuesday, the day of the 1929 stock market crash.
It's remarkable that holiday shopping has taken on such epic proportions - frenetic shoppers fueled by desperate retailers. I once remember hearing a remark that shopping is what Americans do best. So shop 'till you drop :) ...

Photo Note: I have assembled a collage of photos of the major retailers I have featured on this site since its inception (March 2006). The photos are listed clockwise starting at the upper left. (click on any to go to that posting and it photos): Saks, Macys, Tiffany, Takashimaya, Apple and Sherry, Cartier.