[Ads-l] Black Friday in Rochester, NY, 1961

[Ben Zimmer]

Barry Popik forwarded this important "Black Friday" discovery to some
of us off-list. It slightly predates the Public Relations News article
about Philadelphia (from Dec. 18, 1961), and it indicates that police
in at least one other city besides Philly were using the expression at
the same time.

Here's a link to the page image on the Fulton History site:
http://bit.ly/1FItVRd


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Barry Popik <bapopik at aol.com>
Date: Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 2:56 PM
Subject: Black Friday in Rochester, NY, 1961
...
I've been looking at the Fulton Post Cards database, now with great
stuff but a terrible search mechanism. The New York Morning Telegraph
is partly digitized, and you can find "big apple" in 1922 and 1923. No
1921 or 1924 yet, apparently.
...
I also looked at "Black Friday" and don't know if anyone has found this:
...
...
1 December 1961, Shortsville-Manchester Enterprise (Shortsville, NY),
"Around and About," pg. 4, col. 2:
Kathie Caulkin, our intrepid advertising manager, made a serious
mistake in judgment last Friday. Took her three kids to Rochester on
the day all city police call "Black Friday."
...
Besides being the day after Thanksgiving -- thus one of the busiest
shopping days in the year -- bus drivers were still on strike, adding
to automotive traffic. Katie reports she waited through 13 changes of
a single traffic light -- then had to back up to get into the parking
garage. "I didn't care if I crumpled fifty fenders at that point,"
Katie reports.
...
...
Barry Popik
Goshen, NY
www.barrypopik.com

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