Well, shoppers, did you survive the retail hustle and bustle of Black Friday?
Did you come away with the bargains that you had hoped for -- or were you left disappointed when other customers beat you to the items you wanted?
Whatever the case, Black Friday has generally more pleasant connotations today than it had in the past.
Today, it refers to the day when retailers have traditionally gone "in the black" -- reaching profitability for the year. ("It's also used derisively by many retailers to mark a very long day of impatient shoppers, boorish behavior and adults elbowing one another to get a cheap video-game system," the Cleveland Plain Dealer noted.)
But a bleaker Black Friday took place back in 1869. The Plain Dealer notes that President Ulysses S. Grant intervened to keep speculators from cornering the gold market. Grant sold $4 million in American gold, and the price plunged, ruining many investors. That unhappy event was on Friday, Sept. 24, 1869.
Today's Black Friday often sees the most traffic at stores of any day of the year, but that does not necessarily translate into the most sales. That distinction is sometimes reserved for the final Saturday before Christmas.
Nevertheless, we hope our modern Black Friday kicked off some badly needed economic growth for the United States.