Here's why we call the day after Thanksgiving 'Black Friday'

AP/Damian Dovarganes

• The origin of the term "Black Friday" is murky.

• The most popular telling is that the name came from the fact that the revenues generated from the day's sales are so great, they can push retailers "into the black" for the year.

• But the earliest reference to that explanation is 1981 — many years later than the name became popular.

• A Philadelphia Inquirer reporter claimed in an article in 1994 he helped popularize the term by using it after the Philadelphia police started using it in the 1960s.

Though most shoppers likely don't stop to think about why we call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday," all the same, many have wondered.

The most popular explanation is that the day's sales are so high, it can singlehandedly push a retailer from being "in the red," or losing money, into "the black," or solvency.

That reasoning first appeared in 1981, according to Snopes, but that's apparently years after the Philadelphia police had already coined the term "Black Friday." According to a 1994 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer that was written by one of the reporters who claims to have popularized the term, "Black Friday" was actually coined in the 1960s.

Read more: Amazon is starting Black Friday a week early

Black Friday has long been considered the start of the holiday shopping season, and since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, many schools and some businesses would be closed the day after.

Stores, however, were not closed, causing a spike in street traffic and crowds in Philadelphia's Center City. Police officers in the city started calling the day Black Friday, as they had to work 12-hour shifts to mitigate the madness. From there, the media got a hold of it, and the name was popularized.

The nickname caught on even after PR firms hired by department stores tried to change the name to "Big Friday" in the 1960s. It didn't work, and eventually, Black Friday spread across the US, morphing into the monument to holiday shopping we know today.

Read more about Black Friday 2018:

• What you need to know about Black Friday this year

• Black Friday is dead — and constant discounts could be to blame

• Black Friday sales are starting soon — here's when stores will open

• More than 60 malls across America will be closed on Thanksgiving. Here's the full list.

• Here's when Costco is kicking off Black Friday

NOW WATCH: The true story behind the name 'Black Friday' is much darker than you may have thought

See Also:

• More than 60 malls across America will be closed on Thanksgiving. Here's the full list.

• These are the stores with the best Black Friday discounts

• Costco, Home Depot, TJ Maxx and dozens of other retailers are bucking a major Black Friday trend