I WA LIFE
SUDOKU
The ‘Dark and Twisted’ Histo of Black Frida y
ry
al Crisis Becam e
How a Nation Iowa’s Best Ad
Campaign
Black Friday’s massive sales, doorbuster prizes, and long lines hide a secret: They began with an economic crisis. It happened more than 150 years ago on Sept. 24, 1869, and retailers have been cashing in on it ever since. The story could have come straight from “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Back in the 1860s, two shady financiers had made a plan to corner the gold market. They bought as much gold as they could and got involved in politics, hoping to halt sales and drive up gold prices. Their scheme went well until President Ulysses S. Grant got wind of it.
SALES AND SUCCES S
APARTMENT
Grant was furious! To show them who was boss and reverse their gains, he ordered the sale of $4 million in government gold.
8 UNITS — SOLD ! BRICK CONSTRUCTION — ALL 2 BEDROOM — GARAGES — ALL UTILITIES SEPARATE!
Grant’s good intentions backfired. As one PBS article puts it, “When the government gold hit the market, so did panic.” Gold prices took a nosedive and everyone scrambled to sell. The market crashed down 20% on Sept. 24 and the sale of commodities dropped 50%. Thousands of investors defaulted on their loans and fell into financial ruin. So many families were impacted that the day became known as “The Panic of 1869” or more simply “Black Friday.” Here’s the funny thing about this story: It didn’t take long for savvy advertisers to use the history of Black Friday to their advantage! And it all started in the Midwest. In 1891, People’s Mammoth Installment House in Omaha, Nebraska, was perhaps the first store to compare its upcoming fall sale to the horrors of Black Friday. “Prices of furniture will topple and fall …” they wrote. “For years to come, this barbarous butchery of prices and values, this marvelous and merciless massacre of house furnishings goods, shall be known in the history of Omaha as ‘The People’s Black Friday Sale.’” Iowa shops weren’t far behind! That same year, T.S. Martin and Co. in Sioux City also held a Black Friday sale using the same analogy to sell stockings, corsets, gloves, and more. Today, most of us have forgotten what Medium calls the “dark and twisted” history of Black Friday, but it’s still lurking behind every doorbuster. If you score big this year, thank the schemers of 1869!
4 UNITS FOR SALE! GARAGES — POSSIBLE 5TH UNIT — (2) 3-BEDROOM UNITS — (2) 2-BEDROOM UNITS — PLUS NON- CONFORMING STUDIO UNIT!
40+ UNITS — SOLD IN LESS THAN FOUR DAYS!
CONTACT DARIN TODAY AT 319-350-5378 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE LISTINGS!
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