“Thank God It’s Friday” or “Thank Goodness It’s Friday” (TGIF)
T.G.I. Friday’s restaurant started in 1965 in New York City and, with Maxwell’s Plum, was one of the nation’s first “singles bars.” (“Singles bar” has been cited in print since at least 1968.)
The phrase “Thank God It’s Friday” (often abbreviated “TGIF”) appears to have begun at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1934. “COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 29—Students of Missouri University had formed a ‘Thank-God-It’s-Friday club’ to promote week-end relaxation” was printed in the Pittsburgh (PA) Press on December 29, 1936.
“Thank goodness it’s Friday” was printed in The Times Herald (Port Huron, MI) on May 1, 1938.
“TGIF” (Thank God It’s Friday) was printed in the St. Petersburg (FL) Times on March 2, 1941. “TGIF” (Thank Goodness It’s Friday) was printed in the Chicago (IL) Sun on November 11, 1945.
“TGIF” can also stand for “Tremendously Grateful It’s Friday” and “Thank God It’s Fermented.”
Wikipedia: TGI Fridays
TGI Fridays (formerly stylized as T.G.I. FRiDAY’S) is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners, who purchased the company from Carlson Companies in May 2014. The name is asserted to stand for “Thank God It’s Friday”, although as of 2010 some television commercials for the chain have also made use of the alternative phrase, “Thank Goodness It’s Friday.”
History
Alan Stillman opened the first TGI Fridays restaurant in 1965 in New York. He lived in a neighborhood with many airline stewardesses, fashion models, secretaries, and other young, single people on the East Side of Manhattan near the Queensboro Bridge, and hoped that opening a bar would help him meet women.
T.G.I. Friday’s
T.G.I. Friday’s® Forty Years of Fun Facts
In 1965, Alan Stillman founded the first Friday’s® restaurant in New York City.
According to Newsweek and The Saturday Evening Post, the opening of the first Friday’s restaurant heralded the dawn of the singles age.
Friday’s restaurants have been the employer of several well-known celebrities - Kathy Mattea, Sean Patrick Flannery of “Young Indiana Jones” and Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond”.
Friday’s restaurants have a long history of innovation, including being credited with:
Naming ‘happy hour’.
Inventing the Long Island Iced Tea and Loaded Potato Skins.
Popularizing frozen and ice cream drinks.
Pioneering non-alcoholic Smoothies and Flings in honor of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
(Some of these claimed firsts are not correct—ed.)
Wikipedia: Thank God It’s Friday (film)
Thank God It’s Friday is a 1978 American musical disco comedy film directed by Robert Klane and produced by Motown Productions and Casablanca FilmWorks for Columbia Pictures. Produced at the height of the disco craze, the film features The Commodores performing “Too Hot ta Trot”, and Donna Summer performing “Last Dance”, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1978. The film features an early performance by Jeff Goldblum and the first major screen appearance by Debra Winger. The film also features Terri Nunn, who would go on to fame in the 1980s new wave group Berlin.
Newspapers.com
27 December 1936, Miami (FL) Tribune, pg. 9, col. 2:
FRIDAY CLUB ORGANIZED
COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 26. (UP) Students of Missouri University had formed a “Thank-God-It’s-Friday club” to promote week-end relaxation.
29 December 1936, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, pg. 22, col. 1:
Friday Club Organized
COLUMBIA, Mo., Dec. 29—Students of Missouri University had formed a “Thank-God-It’s-Friday club” to promote week-end relaxation. Members said they will drink nothing stronger than beer at the meetings and engage in “scholarly discussion.”
16 December 1937, Lima (OH) News, pg. 23, col. 5:
The “Thank-God-It’s Friday” club, organized by students at the University of Missouri three years ago, has spread to other colleges and shows signs of becoming a national collegiate organization.
(...)
The club was organized to provide week-end relaxation from studies. Its organizer was George Hilton, of Dearborn, Mich., a student in the Missouri school of journalism. It all began when Hilton walked into a delicatessen near the school, sat down in a chair called for a glass of beer and exclaimed: “Thank God it’s Friday.”
A group of students thereupon decided to celebrate the release from weekly class routine. They have met regularly since for an informal evening of beer drinking and singing.
1 May 1938, The Times Herald (Port Huron, MI), sec. 1, pg. 4, col. 3:
Weekend Respite
Master: “Jones, this is the tenth time you have been canned this week. What have you to say about it?”
Jones: “Thank goodness it’s Friday.”
12 November 1939, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. 6:
COLUMBIA (Mo.) Nov. 11 (U.P.) The Thank God It’s Friday Club of the University of Missouri has started its sixth year. Organized by George Hilton, a Detroit student in the school of journalism, the club meets Friday nights to celebrate the end of another school week.
2 March 1941, St. Petersburg (FL) Times “Confidentially Speaking,” pg. 2-C, col. 1:
Mary Lou Gordon, who’s cadeting at Central primary school as part of her teaching training at Florida State College for Women, was baffled when two second-graders approached her with the cheerful but cryptic comment, “TGIF.” When they repeated the phrase later in the day she asked what it meant and one tot replied, “Oh, we thought you’d be glad, too—that means ‘Thank God it’s Friday.’”
13 November 1941, Marion (OH) Star, pg. 19, col. 4:
OHIO STATE’S TGIF CLUB
SET FOR HOMECOMING
18 June 1943, Minneapolis (MN) Star Journal, “In This Corner” with Cedric Adams, pg. 17, col. 7:
SCHOOL TEACHERS, according to Mrs. Elaine Neeb of Winona, have long had an organization known as the TGIF club, meaning “Thank God it’s Friday.” But they’ve also had a subsidiary organization, the OHIM group. That translated means “Oh, H—- It’s Monday.”
11 November 1945, Chicago (IL) Sun, “Parade’s Private Wire,” Parade magazine, pg. 4, col. 1:
Following the current “initial slogans” trend, New Jersey school children’s talk every Friday is peppered with “TGIF.” This means, “Thank goodness it’s Friday.”
18 November 1945, Akron (OH) Beacon Journal, “Youth Takes A Serious Look At World” by Nancy Pepper, pg. 5-D, col. 2:
WEEKLY MEETING—It’s it’s Friday you’re apt to meet the members of the T.G.I.F. club, holding their weekly celebration over Double Malteds. In case you don’t know, “T.G.I.F.” stands for “Thank Goodness It’s Friday!” Here’s one club that has plenty of active members.
5 January 1966, Daily News (New York, NY), “On the Town” by Charles McHarry, pg. 54, col. 1:
A new boite on E. 63d St. calls itself TGI Friday. Spelled out, it comes to Thank God It’s Friday.
(Trademark)
Word Mark T.G.I. FRIDAY’S
Goods and Services IC 042. US 100. G & S: RESTAURANT AND LIQUOR BAR SERVICES. FIRST USE: 19650315. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19700530
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 72371156
Filing Date September 21, 1970
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Change In Registration CHANGE IN REGISTRATION HAS OCCURRED
Registration Number 0925656
Registration Date December 14, 1971
Owner (REGISTRANT) EUROMART, INC. CORPORATION NEW YORK 1152 1ST AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK 10021
(LAST LISTED OWNER) TGI FRIDAY’S OF MINNESOTA, INC. CORPORATION BY ASSIGNMENT MINNESOTA 19111 North Dallas Parkway, Suite 165 Dallas TEXAS 75287
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record Shannon T. Vale
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20111104.
Renewal 3RD RENEWAL 20111104
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