Brown Friday is a term commonly addressed to the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States. The term was coined by

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

s who report a sudden increase in service calls that report clogged drains and broken garbage disposals happening, directly after Thanksgiving. Vic Fredlund, the service manager of Abacus Plumbing, believes this event to be caused by people "putting materials like

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

es,

fiber Fiber (spelled fibre in British English; from ) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often inco ...

s, materials, things like that in the

garbage disposal A garbage disposal unit (also known as a waste disposal unit, food waste disposer (FWD), in-sink macerator, garbage disposer, or garburator) is a device, usually electrically powered, installed under a kitchen sink between the sink's drain a ...

." Doyle James, the president of Mr. Rooter Plumbing, blames it on "the grease and the potato peels," and Paul Abrams, a spokesperson for

Roto-Rooter Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup (formerly called Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service) is a plumbing company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company, founded in 1935, originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from ...

also blames it on potato peels, as well as

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, stating: "People continue to peel potatoes over the sink and then push the peels down into the garbage disposal .. Rice s alsoconsistent with big holiday meal prep," which all tend to clog drains and pipes, especially after Thanksgiving with the large amounts of waste it produces. Additionally, in a large gathering such as Thanksgiving,

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...

pipes also tend to be clogged up by large amounts of

toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet/bath/bathroom tissue, or toilet roll) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the human anus, anus and surrounding region of Human feces, feces (after defecation), and to clean the external gen ...

and wipes. Major plumbing companies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

report drastic increases in service requests. Mr. Rooter Plumbing report a 50% increase in service calls on Brown Friday. Roto-Rooter reports a 48-50% increase in service calls on Brown Friday. Bell Brothers report a "higher volume of calls."

References

{{reflist Friday observances Observances based on the date of Thanksgiving (United States) Plumbing Unofficial observances