Black Friday
According to Wikipedia, the phrase Black Friday as applied to the Friday after Thanksgiving was first recognized in the press in a 1975 New York Times article referring to the term coined by the Philadelphia police department for the heavy traffic on that day.
I personally don't recall hearing the phrase Black Friday until this year. Perhaps I live in a cocoon, but I just don't remember it being commonly used. A look at Google trends shows the number of web searches for Black Friday has spiked at this time for the last several years.
Before researching Black Friday's history, I thought they called it that because it is dark when everyone lines up outside the stores at 3AM in order to get the best deals like Camden and I did last year in order to procure a WII.
This year I stayed home and slept in. Only around noon did I venture to Wal-Mart with Bret to purchase Christmas lights. We swapped our indoor and outdoor incandescent lights for LEDs this year. I highly recommend the switch. LEDs are brighter, last longer, our cool to the touch and use 80% to 90% less electricity.
I was highly motivated to hang my own outdoor lights this year after I got a $250 quote from a local outfit that hangs lights professionally. Being charged $100 an hour for something that requires little skill seemed egregious.