A Guide to Black Friday: What it is and what it is not.

A guide to Black Friday: What it is and what it is not:

• It is American in origin, being the day after Thanksgiving in North America, and is considered to be the start of the Christmas  sales  rush.

Macy's Parade in New York

• It’s not a national holiday but some states, i.e. California, do offer a public holiday allowing for that most wonderful and rare occurrence: The Four Day Weekend.
• Its name is thought to be courtesy of the Philadelphia Police Department, who apparently coined the term to describe the horrific traffic conditions after the national holiday.

Members of the Philadelphia Police Department

• Other explanations refer to when American retailers finally hit the black after months of being in the red.
• It is not a musical side-project for Pixies front man, Francis Black.

Godfather of Indie Pop: Black Francis of The Pixies

• Nor is it a day when the UK had to prematurely withdraw from a European exchange rate mechanism.
• Although bursting on to our screens last year, and through doors of electrical  retailers  in Brent Cross, there are signs of the phenomenon waning stateside, as outlined here in  this Time.com Money article on the subject .

On Your Marks, Set, Shop!

• The BBC is reporting a slow start with sales seeing an increase this year online.
• Despite various accounts, Black Friday does not have an official Twitter account. So don’t be fooled!

They're in, They're off!

• Both The Mirror and The Telegraph are joining the party and sharing with their readers where the best deals might be.
• Black Friday was not, sadly, an episode in Blackadder.
• A quick, unscientific straw poll opinion around the team suggests that Speakers Corner, as a whole, are somewhat ambivalent to Black Friday (speak for yourself!)

We celebrate Black Friday with Sripes & Cake

Good luck to those in finding your deal of deals, otherwise wait for the January sales that start on the 26th December!

All pictures courtesy of Wikipedia, Flickr & Pixabay