Like just about everything else in 2020, Thanksgiving will be a little (or a lot) different this year. Our holidays have become \u201ctraditional\u201d and the fact that they\u2019ll be different this year just makes us more aware of the constant changes in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanksgiving, like all our holidays, has evolved over the years to what we think of today as a \u201ctraditional\u201d Thanksgiving. But if you look back in history, Thanksgiving at the turn of the 20th century wasn\u2019t anything like we know today \u2014 in fact, it was kind of creepy. In many cities, children and adults would dress up in masks and host costume \u201ccrawls.\u201d The tradition of children dressing up as poor people in New York became so popular that Thanksgiving was nicknamed \u201cRagamuffin Day.\u201d So Thanksgiving back then seemed more like our Halloween does today\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just read that Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving parade this year will be \u201cdifferent.\u201d It may even be virtual<\/em> \u2014 I\u2019m not sure how that will work, but everything else seems to be becoming virtual, so why not a parade? Anyhow, Macy\u2019s parade has also changed over the years \u2014 up until 1932, the balloons from the parade were released into the sky when the parade was over. Macy\u2019s offered a $50 reward to anyone that found a deflated balloon and returned it. It turned out that most of the balloons would burst before they were found\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve heard a lot lately about President Trump\u2019s effort to stimulate the economy despite the pandemic, but even the date we celebrate Thanksgiving has been moved for economic reasons. In 1941 President Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving to be the second-to-last Thursday in November as a way to encourage more holiday shopping to boost the economy. It wasn\u2019t a popular decision for Roosevelt \u2014 many people at the time compared him to Hitler\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far as I know, one thing that won\u2019t change this year is the Thanksgiving football games \u2014 few or no fans in the stands, but there will<\/em> be football. The (professional) Thanksgiving football tradition was started by the Detroit Lions in 1934 as a marketing ploy to get more attendance at the games. The Dallas Cowboys started the same tradition in 1966. So you can always watch the Lions and the Cowboys play football on Thanksgiving\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three day harvest festival. The first Thanksgiving sanctioned by the government was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777 but it wasn\u2019t consistently observed until around 1815. It didn\u2019t become a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it on October 3, 1863. The story is that Lincoln was convinced to make it a national holiday by Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote letters advocating for the holiday for 17 years. Sarah Josepha Hale was the woman who wrote \u201cMary Had A Little Lamb.\u201d\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Presidential Pardoning of the turkey was formally<\/em> started by George H.W. Bush in 1989. Harry Truman is often credited with being the first president to pardon a turkey, but actually he was the first to receive a ceremonial turkey from the National Turkey Federation \u2014 he had it for dinner. John F. Kennedy was the first president to let a Thanksgiving turkey go and Richard Nixon sent his turkey to a petting zoo\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are at least three towns in the U.S. named Turkey \u2014 in Kentucky, North Carolina and Texas. There is a Pilgrim, Michigan, Cranberry, Pennsylvania and Yum Yum, Tennessee\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turkey wasn\u2019t on the menu at that first Thanksgiving in 1621 \u2014 they served venison, goose, duck, oysters, lobster, eel and fish. They probably had pumpkins and cranberries, but no pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanksgiving will be smaller and more subdued around here this year, but it\u2019s still a day to give thanks \u2014 just like all days. Happy Thanksgiving!! Like just about everything else in 2020, Thanksgiving will be a little (or a lot) different this year. Our holidays have become \u201ctraditional\u201d and the fact that they\u2019ll be different this year just makes us more aware of the constant … Continue reading
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"