Black Friday falls each year on the Friday after Thanksgiving and marks the official start of the holiday shopping season. The term derives from an old accounting practice of referring to “in the black” as turning a profit since black ink was used for profits and red for debts. In an article from the November 2008 issue of Real Simple titled “Black Friday 101”, it was reported that 147 million shoppers hit the stores last year, spending an average of $347 each. Fourteen percent went at it before 4 A.M.! Strong “black” tea must have been in order for those folks.

What will this Black Friday bring…in addition to tea as the perfect start to this race for bargains? Well, according to MediaPost’s Marketing Daily, marketers are predicting flat sales this year. As an aside, in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt actually moved Thanksgiving up a week to extend the season to bolster business.

Cyber Monday, a more recent phenomena, refers to the Monday following Black Friday when people look for online sales and turn to the Internet for items not found in stores. As the saying goes… “Shop ‘til You Drop.”