Background information
Nobody likes the last Father Christmas
by Michael Restin
This is how Black Friday came to Switzerland
25.11.2022
Translation: machine translated
For years, you've been mindlessly buying us out on Black Friday without giving a second thought to this historic day. Black Friday even has its origins in Switzerland. A historically very inaccurate explanation.
Historians have recently discovered new sources that provide clues to the upheavals in shopping behaviour. If the information from old writings could be confirmed, the answer to the question "Who invented it?" would have to be rewritten. The day did not originate in the USA; Switzerland is responsible for the custom.
As the inscription indicates, Friday, the 29th of the eleventh month in 1315, was supposed to turn shopping habits in the still young Confederation upside down. A miserly furniture dealer, a resourceful carpenter and a cheeky maid were the triggers for the first discount battle of Rappenswil.
The furniture dealer had bought furniture at auction from afar for a few guilders, only to sell it later in Rappenswil at a much higher price. This put the carpenter in a difficult position, as she had already bought good wood from the forester, which she was about to process into tables and chairs. What should she do?
A clever plan
A few days went by when the maid paid the carpenter a visit. The carpenter complained to the maid that she could no longer make furniture from the wood because the people would snatch the goods out of the hands of the cunning furniture dealer and she would be left sitting on her wood. The maid, clever as she was, quickly had a solution to the predicament. She should offer the furniture she had already made at a lower price. That would initially bring her fewer guilders. But it would convince the customers of the quality of the goods. The furniture dealer had probably bought cheap furniture. However, the quality of the furniture was so dubious that the customers would soon be complaining and demanding their money for the defective goods. Then the carpenter's clientele would soon be ready to pay the full price again.
Now, however, the furniture dealer had got wind of this plan. A black raven had heard the words of the two women. The furniture dealer had to promise the raven three nuts before the raven would talk. And so it came about that on Friday, the 29th of the eleventh month in 1315, the carpenter offered her furniture at a lower price than the furniture dealer offered his goods from afar. The first citizens of Rappenswil rushed in and bought chairs, tables and cupboards. Soon, however, it was heard in the narrow streets that the furniture dealer probably had the even lower prices. Messengers were sent to the surrounding villages to inform them of the strange goings-on. The carpenter underbid the furniture dealer again, whereupon he lowered his prices by a few more guilders.
At once, people from all over the bailiwick stood outside the town gate of Rappenswil and expected low prices. So it came about that innkeepers also got in on the madness and sold beer for few guilders. The farmer offered cabbage and turnips for sale, which he only wanted to sell later at the market, and the tailor fetched the unsuccessful thread from the cellar to rub it in the noses of the eager customers at a reduced price. The spook went on and on, the prices fell lower and lower and more and more people lined the alleys and streets of the city until deep into the night. The discount battle of Rappenswil!
The next day, when the craftsmen and tradesmen plunged their coffers, they realised that they had guilders in their pockets but no more goods to sell. It was going to be a hard winter, for the guilders earned were only going to last a few moons to feed the hungry mouths. All the guilds gathered in the market place to express their disillusionment. After countless speeches and outcries, it was decided that such usury should never be repeated. From then on, this Friday would go down in the city's chronicles as "Black Friday". But in order not to incur the wrath of the free citizens of the entire bailiwick, the guilds were prepared to compromise: Sodom and Gomorrah would henceforth be allowed to reign on the very last Friday of the eleventh month. For the rest of the year, the usual prices would apply. This tradition has endured to this day.
About cartoonist Stephan Lütolf
I'm not going to join the discount battle this Black Friday. I don't need anything, it's still cheaper. But as a historian, I had my pleasure to finally paint a battle painting. PS. For anyone who was just wondering: Yes, 29/11/1315 was a Friday. All true.
Simon Balissat
Teamleader Editorial
Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.chWhen I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
Black Friday & Co.
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