Well, here it is just about Thanksgiving already. This will be the first Thanksgiving in a long time that all our kids and grandkids are coming to our house. Obviously, we\u2019re looking forward to their visit and having all the family together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As is kind of my tradition, I blog something about Thanksgiving every year just because, well, it\u2019s a tradition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve mentioned some of these \u201cfun facts\u201d before, but there\u2019s only so much you can say a bout a single day that occurs every year\u2026. and \u2014 repeating is part of the tradition.
Around the turn of the century, at Thanksgiving, children and adults would dress up in masks and host costume crawls in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. The tradition of children dressing up as poor people in New York became so popular that Thanksgiving was nicknamed \u201cRagamuffin Day.\u201d
Three towns in the U.S. are called Turkey \u2014 they are located in Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina. Other town names that are appropriate around Thanksgiving include Pilgrim, Michigan, Cranberry, Pennsylvania and Yum Yum, Tennessee.
The first Thanksgiving was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777. but the custom fell out of use around 1815. When that happened, Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote \u201cMary Had a Little Lamb,\u201d began petitioning presidents to make it a national holiday. She finally succeeded in 1863, when President Lincoln issued a proclamation. Even then, Thanksgiving didn\u2019t officially have the set date as the fourth Thursday in November until 1941.\u00a0
Until 1932, balloons from Macy\u2019s parade were released into the sky when the parade was over. Macy\u2019s offered a $50 reward for those who found a deflated balloon and returned it. The idea never proved very successful because the balloons usually burst after being set free.\u00a0
More turkeys (44 to 46 million, annually) are raised I\u2019m Minnesota than any other state.
President Roosevelt officially changed the date of Thanksgiving in 1941 to the second-to-last Thursday in November as a way to encourage more holiday shopping to boost the economy. That decision didn\u2019t go over well, and earned him “the honor” of being compared to Hitler.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So with all the activity generated by four grandkids, I\u2019m not sure how much football will get watched, but the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys will be playing their annual games. The Lions have played on Thanksgiving since 1934 \u2014 The Cowboys didn\u2019t start until 1966.
No matter what, this will be a memorable Thanksgiving \u2014 probably the best ever\u2026.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, here it is just about Thanksgiving already. This will be the first Thanksgiving in a long time that all our kids and grandkids are coming to our house. Obviously, we\u2019re looking forward to their visit and having all the … Continue reading