How on Earth Did Black Friday Start? And What Did We Ever Do to Deserve Cyber Monday?

Every year in America, we follow a very curious pattern. On Thursday, we pause to thank God for our blessings—family, food, health, home. 

Then, before the cranberry sauce has fully settled, we set alarms for 3 a.m., grab travel mugs of lukewarm coffee, and line up outside a store to sprint after a television like it’s the last lifeboat on the Titanic.

And what did we ever do to deserve Cyber Monday strutting in, acting like Black Friday’s over-caffeinated hype man?”

To understand it, we have to go back—not to the mall, but to the streets of Philadelphia.

Black Friday: Born from Chaos, Not Coupons

The term Black Friday wasn’t coined by marketers, shoppers, or stores. It was coined by police officers in Philadelphia in the 1950s, who dreaded the day after Thanksgiving. The city swelled with tourists arriving for the annual Army–Navy game. Streets were jammed, sidewalks were packed, stores were overwhelmed, and shoplifting soared.

According to History.com, the police began calling it “Black Friday” because the day was so chaotic, unpleasant, and demanding for law enforcement.

Retailers hated the name. They even tried to rebrand it as “Big Friday,” a far more cheerful title that never caught on. 

The International Business Times reports that the public insisted on keeping the name Black Friday. And they did.

How a Nightmare Became Retail’s Favorite Holiday

Fast-forward to the 1980s. If retailers couldn’t change the name, they could change the meaning.

Marketing teams reframed the term to suggest that stores moved “into the black”—making a profit—as holiday shopping kicked off. This new interpretation caught fire, and by the 1990s and early 2000s, the phrase was fully transformed into a badge of retail success.

With the new spin, stores launched doorbusters, early bird specials, and limited-quantity deals. Shoppers arrived with lawn chairs, heavy coats, and fierce determination. A day that began as a logistical nightmare morphed into a beloved frenzy of American tradition. Investopedia traces the shift from “chaos” to “profits."

Cyber Monday: Because Americans Wanted Deals Without the Bruises

Cyber Monday, unlike Black Friday, wasn’t named by the public. It was named by marketers—with shocking effectiveness.

In 2005, the National Retail Federation noticed that online sales spiked the Monday after Thanksgiving. Why Monday? Because Americans returned to work where they had high-speed internet—much faster than most home connections at the time.

According to Technical.ly, The NRF coined the term “Cyber Monday,” wrapped it in shiny marketing, and the public embraced it instantly.

A later CNN Business report explains that in the early 2000s, workplace internet was significantly faster and more reliable than home service, making Monday the perfect online shopping day:

And just like that, a “holiday” was born—no tents, no stampedes, no bruised shins from runaway shopping carts. Cyber Monday offered deals from the comfort of a desk chair or sofa.

What These Days Reveal About Us

Both of these “holidays” began in unexpected ways—one born from street-level chaos, the other from clever marketing and office Wi-Fi. But their endurance says something about us as people.

We love preparing for Christmas.
We love giving.
We love surprising people.
And, let’s be honest—we love a good deal.

But in all the frenzy, here’s the truth worth holding onto: Christmas does not require chaos to be meaningful.

You don’t need to race through the season.

You don’t need the perfect sale or the perfect gift.

You don’t even need twenty browser tabs open on Cyber Monday.

The heart of Christmas is connection—joy, generosity, and love.
That’s the part worth keeping, long after the deals expire.

Because Black Friday may have begun with chaos, and Cyber Monday may have begun with marketing brilliance, but Christmas began with hope. And that is far more enduring than any sale.

If you’d like to support small American businesses this season, we’re celebrating Small Saturday with 40% off 60+ artisan-made gifts. Use code SMALLSATURDAY40 on orders over $25 for free shipping, today only at Artisan Shop USA.

 

 

I’m Lauren—a writer, educator, and novelty quilter with over 30 years of experience in service and sales. I’ve taught high school English, worked as a journalist, and now run Artisan Shop USA, a marketplace supporting handmade artistry and the sharing of faith, family, and country. I’m also a wife, mom, and lifelong lover of storytelling.