By: Alexis Pontrelli, Features Reporter

On November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving, millions of people around the United States went Black Friday shopping. Retailers and department stores like Kohls, Macy’s, TJ Maxx, Target, and Modell’s had door-busting sales, where early shoppers came to shop.

Some stores in New York City opened as early as five am to let the “Holiday Shopping” season begin. Many people waited for hours in line to get the best sales and even camped outside. The term “Black Friday” originated in the late 1900s, but wasn’t highly recognized until the early 2000’s.

There are multiple theories for why it’s called “Black Friday,” but one of the most popular ones is that in Philadelphia the 1950’s, since so many people went out to shop, it caused traffic accidents and chaos, so the police department referred to the dreaded work day as a “Black Friday.”

Many people skipped out on one of the busiest and chaotic shopping days of the year, and decided to wait until Cyber Monday to do their holiday shopping online.