One of the busiest shopping days of the year in the United States is now the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday.

In an effort to draw customers into their locations, national chain stores typically offer a limited number of money-saving discounts on a variety of products while also providing comparable offers online.

The idea that businesses operate at a loss, or are “in the red,” until the day following Thanksgiving, when large sales eventually allow them to generate a profit, or put them “in the black,” is not the origin of the phrase “Black Friday,” as many people think.

The phrase “Black Friday” was first used by Philadelphia police officers to describe the chaos that occurred when a large number of suburban tourists arrived in the city to start their holiday shopping and, in some years, to attend the annual Army-Navy football game on Saturday in the early 1960s.

This is when the phrase’s more accurate meaning first became apparent. The large crowds caused the police to work longer shifts than normal as they dealt with shoplifting, traffic bottlenecks, accidents, and other problems.

That’s how Black Friday got its name.