Thanksgiving History and Folklore

Even Dogs Enjoy a Good Turkey Dinner

2010-11-24T18:12:00.000-06:00

Original photograph available (at time of writing) from here: Chubby Dog Enjoying His Turkey

Early 20th Century Photo of Walton Family at Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-24T18:08:00.000-06:00

On back, the photo is identified as the Walton Family. Original image available (at time of writing) from here: Walton Family

Chicago News Delivery Boys Get a Thanksgiving Treat

2010-11-24T18:03:00.002-06:00

Original image available, at time of posting, from here: Thanksgiving Dinner Served for Chicago Newsboys, 1942

Special Thanksgiving for Chicago Newsboys

2010-11-24T17:59:00.000-06:00

Original image available, at time of posting, from here: Thanksgiving Dinner Served for Chicago Newsboys

Thanksgiving on the High Seas, WWII

2010-11-24T17:56:00.000-06:00

Original image available at time of writing from here: Thanksgiving During World War II

Barbershop with Turkey in the Window, 1912

2010-11-24T17:53:00.002-06:00

Original image available, at time of writing, from here: Thanksgiving Turkey at Barbershop

Turkey AND Beer, 1945 Advertisement for Rheingold Beer

2010-11-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

I wonder if that poor bird can read?

Original image available (at time of posting) here: Turkey and Rheingold Beer

Fattening Up the Turkey, circa 1920

2010-11-24T17:48:00.000-06:00

Original image available (at time of writing) here: Fattening up the bird

Thanksgiving Day Rabbit Hunt — Kids Plus Guns, 1908

2010-11-24T17:46:00.001-06:00

Kids and guns, they just naturally go together, don't they? Original image available (at time of posting) here: Kids and Guns

Preparing the Thanksgiving Turkey

2010-11-24T17:42:00.002-06:00

Original photo available for purchase (at time of writing) here: Preparing the Bird

African-American Woman Plucking Turkey

2010-11-22T18:13:00.001-06:00

Photo print available (at time of writing) from here: African American Woman Plucks Turkey on Her Porch

Chicago Newsboys Enjoy a Thanksgiving Dinner, 1942

2010-09-21T22:52:00.001-05:00

A terrific old photo from the Chicago Sun-Times archives, available for purchase here:
Thanksgiving Dinner

If you're interested in Chicago history, visit Chicago History. I'm always on the lookout for unusual photos of the Windy City.

American Servicemen Enjoy Thanksgiving Turkey, Thanksgiving, 1918 WWI

2010-08-17T20:40:00.003-05:00

A war department photo available here: WWI Soldiers

African-American Children Learn About Thanksgiving, circa 1895

2010-08-17T20:36:00.002-05:00

At time of writing, this image was available here: African-American Children at Thanksgiving

1929 Presidential Turkey

2010-08-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

At time of writing, image was available here: Presidential Turkey

1919 Photograph of Child with a Thanksgiving Turkey

2010-08-17T20:30:00.002-05:00

The original photo is available, at time of writing, here: Thanksgiving Turkey

Some Different Scrapbooking Ideas for Thanksgiving

2010-08-06T23:27:00.000-05:00

by Michele Cardello

The season of thanks is upon us, and we want to capture those family memories in a way they will always be easily recalled, for life’s good times always slip quickly away, like sand sifting through an hour glass. One fine scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving is to create a recipe memoir, which tells the history of your family’s thanksgiving in the form of recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Here are some tips on how to organize your Thanksgiving recipe scrapbook memoir material.

Gather all the recipes you want to include in the memoir and any photos or ephemera you want associated with the presentation. Take your time with this phase of the operation, no matter how anxious you may be about completing your scrapbook ideas for Thanksgiving before the holiday. You will feel terrible if you omit one Thanksgiving scrapbook idea and then find it after you have completed the memoir / scrapbook.

As you gather recipes and photos for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, make some notes about each one. In fact, buy a special journal just for these notes and keep it for other scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

How does reading about the recipe make you feel? What special memories does it evoke? Are there any family tales or funny stories associated with the recipe? Is it hand-written or typed? Write down your thoughts as they cross your mind. Make a rough sketch of your pages so you will know what will go where and what supplies you will need to fulfill your Thanksgiving scrapbook ideas.

Decide on a format for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. One effective scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving is to organize the material as if it were a cookbook to be passed down to future generations. You are creating a family heirloom just as priceless as any other, and maybe even more so because of the specific effort involved. If you wish to use a cookbook format as your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving, consider dividing the book into different sections just like you would find in a real cookbook; one for appetizers, entrees, desserts, etc. Instead of an appendix, list the names of those whose recipes you have included.

Do not scrimp on materials for your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving. You want your memoir to last, and it won’t without purchasing fine quality materials. Don’t be afraid to try something different for your scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving. What about chalking, paper piercing or punch art for your cookbook/scrapbook memoir?

If you decide to go with chalking as one of your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, practice adding and blending colors on a separate sheet before applying chalk to a cutout to get a feel for blending techniques. Chalking is a very inexpensive scrapbooking idea for Thanksgiving and is a very effective way to adorn a page with color. Use a light touch for a soft look and a heavier application for more intense color. Opt for photo-safe decorating chalks, which contain concentrated pigment and are acid-free. Use them carefully and if they break, save the pieces because they still can be used for other scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

Paper piercing is another technique to consider for your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving. Using a template, a piercing tool and pad, you can create a unique presentation for your cookbook / memoir. Designs can be either flat or raised but the results are endless. Many themes and styles are available and piercing can add texture or be combined with stenciling or embossing for additional enhancement of your scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving.

Punch art also offers a myriad of possibilities for your scrapbook ideas for Thanksgiving. You can use it to decorate the borders or headers of your cookbook memoir to accentuate its Thanksgiving theme. Set your own stage with the colors of the season; orange, burgundy, gold and brown. Punches are very versatile and they can be made into many shapes and sizes, only limited by the confines of your imagination. Some of the more common punches are standard geometric shapes, hearts, stars, spirals, leaves and bears. Like the words to that old song, when it comes to punches for scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving, anything goes.

So consider your cookbook / memoir scrapbooking ideas for Thanksgiving as something your family will treasure for many holiday seasons to come. Get inspired to make it a unique creation that will bring pride to any bookshelf in your home. Let your imagination run free and wild while remembering to have a happy, healthy and memorable Thanksgiving holiday.

About the Author

Michele Cardello, director of marketing and creative for Life Imprints, a creative scrapbooking supplies company also offering contemporary picture frames, in Cleveland, Ohio, has worked in the photo packaging industry for 10 years. Cardello helps customers find creative ways to preserve and appreciate a lifetime of memories.

Source: Articlesbase.com
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Costume

2010-08-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

Gobble! Gobble! You gotta love this costume. Some friends and I have been trying to decide what to wear for Halloween this year. We've had "themes" in the past, including all the Wizard of Oz characters. Maybe this year we should go as the First Thanksgiving.

Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009 — A Message

2010-08-04T18:00:00.001-05:00

Wampanoag Warrior

Editor's note: See also Native American Heritage Day.

By Carrie Franzwa

As the great crucible of American history now welcomes the relief of cool-down, we begin to see more clearly what is really left after the chaos of rapid boil. As the Bunsen of raw emotion and survival instinct dies away, we are finally freed to analyze our very personal lab results. Whether individual analysis is honest or not, no other American holiday holds more potential for healthy retrospect of the great social experiment that we are than our beloved Thanksgiving.

Touted the “All-American” holiday almost from its inception in 1863, the notion went unchallenged until the mid 1900’s. As an avid Thanksgiving history and living history enthusiast I can knowledgeably own and admit that the modern challenge has been warranted: our traditional holiday observance has been Euro-centric to a fault, however unwitting the intention.

Slow as we may be to embrace it, America has been, and still is a melting pot of racial and cultural diversity. And since our very constitution declares all men are created equal, in only makes sense that in time we would allow our real history and early cultural mix to be included in our “All-American” Thanksgiving observances.

Which is why I am so supportive of our new federally recognized holiday, Native American Heritage Day, which will follow on the day after Thanksgiving annually from this year forward.

From my personal perspective as a voluntary student of history, I view this calendar addition as a catalyst for bringing Americans up to date where our Thanksgiving traditions are concerned. Where some have hotly argued the origins and history with our Native Peoples, this new observance assures American Indians will get a calm and unfettered chance at the holiday mic.

As a result I anticipate over time that Native American Heritage Day will actually help facilitate the mellowing of our animosities by diminishing the need for protest. As it becomes an increasingly friendly and constructive platform for cultural exchange with our Native Peoples, I cannot imagine anything but a collective move toward healthy history analysis and resulting adjustment to holiday observances.

So it is with a unique sense of holiday thanks-giving this year that I offer my deepest congratulations to Frank Suniga who worked tirelessly for eight years to get the new holiday on the calendar; and I send warmest congratulations to all of Native America – I look forward to talking with you more, to learning about you, and to dispelling the myths that have hindered our American mindset. We will all be the better for this welcome holiday addition.

About the Author: Carrie Franzwa is the founder of America’s Thanksgiving Time Travel alternative, and author of seven K-8 education titles. Together with her family she teaches Thanksgiving living history as an at-home holiday hobby through books, public demonstrations, and through her website at http://ideasthanksgiving.com

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/culture-articles/native-american-heritage-day-act-2009-a-thanksgiving-message-1416391.html Published under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Native American Heritage Day — The Friday Following Thanksgiving

2010-08-04T17:50:00.000-05:00

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as the “Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009”.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Congress finds that—

(1) Native Americans are the descendants of the aboriginal, indigenous, native people who were the original inhabitants of and who governed the lands that now constitute the United States;

(2) Native Americans have volunteered to serve in the United States Armed Forces and have served with valor in all of the Nation’s military actions from the Revolutionary War through the present day, and in most of those actions, more Native Americans per capita served in the Armed Forces than any other group of Americans;

(3) Native American tribal governments included the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and separation of governmental powers;

(4) Native Americans have made distinct and significant contributions to the United States and the rest of the world in many fields, including agriculture, medicine, music, language, and art, and Native Americans have distinguished themselves as inventors, entrepreneurs, spiritual leaders, and scholars;

(5) Native Americans should be recognized for their contributions to the United States as local and national leaders, artists, athletes, and scholars;

(6) nationwide recognition of the contributions that Native Americans have made to the fabric of American society will afford an opportunity for all Americans to demonstrate their respect and admiration of Native Americans for their important contributions to the political, cultural, and economic life of the United States;

(7) nationwide recognition of the contributions that Native Americans have made to the Nation will encourage self-esteem, pride, and self-awareness in Native Americans of all ages;

(8) designation of the Friday following Thanksgiving of each year as Native American Heritage Day will underscore the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Native American governments;

(9) designation of Native American Heritage Day will encourage public elementary and secondary schools in the United States to enhance understanding of Native Americans by providing curricula and classroom instruction focusing on the achievements and contributions of Native Americans to the Nation; and

(10) the Friday immediately succeeding Thanksgiving Day of each year would be an appropriate day to designate as Native American Heritage Day.

Sec. 3. Honoring Native American Heritage in the United States.

Congress encourages the people of the United States, as well as Federal, State, and local governments, and interested groups and organizations to honor Native Americans, with activities relating to—

(1) appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to observe Native American Heritage Day;
(2) the historical status of Native American tribal governments as well as the present day status of Native Americans;
(3) the cultures, traditions, and languages of Native Americans; and
(4) the rich Native American cultural legacy that all Americans enjoy today.

Franksgiving

2010-06-06T02:33:00.000-05:00

Franksgiving is a portmanteau of "Franklin" and "Thanksgiving", coined by Atlantic City mayor Thomas Taggart to describe the American Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving one week earlier than normal, believing that doing so would help bolster retail sales during one of the final years of the Great Depression. This led to much upheaval and protest, causing some to deride the holiday as Franksgiving.

History

In August 1939, Lew Hahn, general manager of the Retail Dry Goods Association, warned Secretary of Commerce Harry Hopkins that the late calendar date of Thanksgiving that year (November 30) could possibly have an adverse effect on retail sales. In keeping with a custom begun by Lincoln in 1863, U.S. Presidents had declared a general day of thanksgiving to be observed on the last Thursday in November. By late October of that year, President Roosevelt decided to deviate from this custom and declare November 23, the second-to-last Thursday, as Thanksgiving that year.

The plan encountered immediate opposition. Alf Landon, Roosevelt's Republican challenger in the preceding election, called the declaration "another illustration of the confusion which [Roosevelt's] impulsiveness has caused so frequently during his administration. If the change has any merit at all, more time should have been taken working it out... instead of springing it upon an unprepared country with the omnipotence of a Hitler." While not all critics were political opponents of the president, most parts of New England (then a Republican stronghold relative to the rest of the nation) were among the most vocal areas. James Frasier, the chairman of the selectmen of Plymouth, Massachusetts (the commonly alleged location of the first Thanksgiving holiday) "heartily disapproved".

The short-notice change in dates affected the holiday plans of millions of Americans. For example, many college football teams routinely ended their seasons with rivalry games on Thanksgiving, and had scheduled them that year for the last day in November; some athletic conferences had rules permitting games only through the Saturday following Thanksgiving. If the date were changed, many of these teams would play their games for empty stadiums or not at all. The change also caused problems for college registrars, schedulers, and calendar makers.

A Gallup poll discovered that Democrats favored the switch 52% to 48% while Republicans opposed it 79% to 21%. Overall, Americans opposed the change 62% to 38%.

After announcing August 31, 1939 that he would similarly designate November 21 of the next year, Roosevelt issued on October 31 his official proclamation calling for "a day of general thanksgiving" on November 23. Such declarations amount using the "moral authority" of the Presidency, and each state government can independently determine when to cancel work for state (and in some cases, municipal) employees. Twenty-three states' governments and the District of Columbia recognized the non-traditional date, twenty-two states preserved the traditional date on November 30, and the remaining three – Colorado, Mississippi, and Texas – gave holidays in both weeks.

In 1940, 32 states' governments and the District of Columbia observed the earlier date on November 21, while 16 states chose what some were calling the "Republican" Thanksgiving on the 28th.

On May 20, 1941, a Commerce Department survey found no significant expansion of retail sales due to the change. November of that year once again saw 32 states and the District of Columbia observing the holiday on the 20th, while the remaining 16 states did so on the 27th.

Roughly two in seven last Thursdays of November are the fifth Thursday of that month; in 1939, the fourth (but second to last) Thursday had been named in the presidential proclamation, in lieu of that year's fifth (and last) Thursday. The second and third of the then non-traditional Thanksgivings remain outliers. Specifically, the presidential proclamation of November 9, 1940 and November 8, 1941 called for observances on November 21, 1940 and November 20, 1941, respectively, the third (and second to last) Thursdays. Every such holiday in the 20th century until 1939 had fit into the former tradition, and each year from 1942 on matched a new (and still current) fourth-Thursday approach.

That new approach was embodied in a joint resolution of Congress, signed into law by President Roosevelt on December 26, 1941 and designating the fourth Thursday in November of each year as Thanksgiving Day. (Prior to that in the 20th century, the phrase "Thanksgiving Day" had been used in the prose of the presidential proclamation only in Calvin Coolidge's first, among his six.) In November 1942, Roosevelt's proclamation made mention of the joint resolution, and of the date it established as Thanksgiving Day, and called for observation "in prayer" of both it and the New Year's Day to follow.

The majority of states immediately changed their laws to coincide with the nationally observed date. The first year following the joint resolution with five Thursdays in November was 1944, and Thanksgiving was observed on the 23rd of the month with exception of the States of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Also in 1945, 1950, 1951, and 1956, November had five Thursdays. Texas was the last state to change its law, observing the last-Thursday Thanksgiving for the final time in 1956.

In media

In the 1940 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon Holiday Highlights, directed by Tex Avery, the introduction to a segment about Thanksgiving shows the holiday falling on two different dates, one "for Democrats" and one a week later "for Republicans."

The competing dates for Thanksgiving are parodied in the 1942 film Holiday Inn. In the film, a November calendar appears on which an animated turkey jumps back and forth between the two weeks, until he gives up and shrugs his shoulders at the audience.

The National Turkey Federation

2010-05-25T03:35:00.001-05:00

The National Turkey Federation (NTF) is the non-profit national trade association based in Washington, D.C. representing the turkey industry and its allies and affiliates. NTF advocates for all segments of the turkey industry, providing services and conducting activities which increase demand for its members' products. The NTF represents its members before the U.S. Congress and the various regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Among members of the general public, this trade federation is best known for its role in co-organizing the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation, a ritualized annual ceremony where a live domestic turkey is presented to the President of the United States just before Thanksgiving Day. The President invariably grants a "pardon" to the bird.

Its official website, EatTurkey.com, is home to thousands of turkey recipes, cooking and preparation tips, and educational information on the turkey industry.

Thanksgiving From the Civil War to the Modern Era

2010-04-20T03:24:00.000-05:00

Post-Civil War Era

During the second half of the 19th century, Thanksgiving traditions in America varied from region to region. A traditional New England Thanksgiving, for example, consisted of a raffle held on Thanksgiving eve (in which the prizes were mainly geese or turkeys), a shooting match on Thanksgiving morning (in which unfortunate turkeys and chickens were used as targets), church services, and then the traditional feast which consisted of some familiar Thanksgiving staples such as turkey and pumpkin pie, and some not-so-familiar dishes such as pigeon pie. In New York City, people would dress up in fanciful masks and costumes and roam the streets in merry-making mobs. By the end of the century these mobs had morphed into "ragamuffin parades" comprised mostly of costumed children, and by the 20th century the tradition had vanished entirely.

1939 to 1941

Abraham Lincoln's successors as president followed his example of annually declaring the final Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving. But in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with this tradition. November had five Thursdays that year (instead of the usual four), and Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving rather than the fifth one. In 1940 and 1941, years in which November had four Thursdays, he declared the third one as Thanksgiving. Although many popular histories state otherwise, he made clear that his plan was to establish it on the next-to-last Thursday in the month instead of the last one. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought an earlier Thanksgiving would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would help bring the country out of the Depression. At the time, advertising goods for Christmas before Thanksgiving was considered inappropriate. Fred Lazarus, Jr., founder of the Federated Department Stores (later Macy's), is credited with convincing Roosevelt to push Thanksgiving back a week to expand the shopping season.

Republicans decried the change, calling it an affront to the memory of Lincoln. People began referring to Nov. 30 as the "Republican Thanksgiving" and Nov. 23 as the "Democratic Thanksgiving" or "Franksgiving." Regardless of the politics, many localities had made a tradition of celebrating on the last Thursday, and many football teams had a tradition of playing their final games of the season on Thanksgiving; with their schedules set well in advance, they could not change. Since a presidential declaration of Thanksgiving Day was not legally binding, Roosevelt's change was widely disregarded. Twenty-three states went along with Roosevelt's recommendation, 22 did not, and some, like Texas, could not decide and took both days as government holidays.

1942 to present

On October 6, 1941, both houses of the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution fixing the traditional last-Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1942. However, in December of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split the difference by requiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes (less frequently) the next to last. On December 26, 1941 President Roosevelt signed this bill, for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law.

Since 1947, or possibly earlier, the National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys, in a ceremony known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation. The live turkey is pardoned and lives out the rest of its days on a peaceful farm. While it is commonly held that this pardoning tradition began with Harry Truman in 1947, the Truman Library has been unable to find any evidence for this. The earliest on record is with George H. W. Bush in 1989. Still others claim that the tradition dates back to Abraham Lincoln pardoning his son's pet turkey. Both stories have been quoted in more recent presidential speeches. In more recent years, two turkeys have been pardoned, in case the original turkey becomes unavailable for presidential pardoning.

Since 1970, the United American Indians of New England, a protest group led by Frank "Wamsutta" James that has accused the United States and European settlers of fabricating the Thanksgiving story and whitewashing a supposed democide and injustice against Indians, has led a National Day of Mourning protest on Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts in the name of social equality and in honor of political prisoners. An unrelated, but similar, protest occurs on the West Coast, known as Unthanksgiving Day, to commemorate the Occupation of Alcatraz.

Thanksgiving During the Civil War Era

2010-03-13T03:33:00.001-06:00

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth." Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, October 3, 1863.

Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.

Thanksgiving from the Revolutionary War to Nationhood

2010-02-02T17:14:00.001-06:00

During the American Revolutionary War the Continental Congress appointed one or more thanksgiving days each year, each time recommending to the executives of the various states the observance of these days in their states. The First National Proclamation of Thanksgiving was given by the Continental Congress in 1777:

FOR AS MUCH as it is the indispensable Duty of all Men to adore the superintending Providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with Gratitude their Obligation to him for Benefits received, and to implore such farther Blessings as they stand in Need of: And it having pleased him in his abundant Mercy, not only to continue to us the innumerable Bounties of his common Providence; but also to smile upon us in the Prosecution of a just and necessary War, for the Defense and Establishment of our unalienable Rights and Liberties; particularly in that he hath been pleased, in so great a Measure, to prosper the Means used for the Support of our Troops, and to crown our Arms with most signal success:

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive Powers of these UNITED STATES to set apart THURSDAY, the eighteenth Day of December next, for SOLEMN THANKSGIVING and PRAISE: That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor; and that, together with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favor; and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD through the Merits of JESUS CHRIST, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance; That it may please him graciously to afford his Blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public Council of the whole: To inspire our Commanders, both by Land and Sea, and all under them, with that Wisdom and Fortitude which may render them fit Instruments, under the Providence of Almighty GOD, to secure for these United States, the greatest of all human Blessings, INDEPENDENCE and PEACE: That it may please him, to prosper the Trade and Manufactures of the People, and the Labor of the Husbandman, that our Land may yield its Increase: To take Schools and Seminaries of Education, so necessary for cultivating the Principles of true Liberty, Virtue and Piety, under his nurturing Hand; and to prosper the Means of Religion, for the promotion and enlargement of that Kingdom, which consisteth "in Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost.

And it is further recommended, That servile Labor, and such Recreation, as, though at other Times innocent, may be unbecoming the Purpose of this Appointment, be omitted on so solemn an Occasion.

George Washington, leader of the revolutionary forces in the American Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga.

Thanksgiving proclamations in the first thirty years of nationhood

As President, on October 3, 1789, George Washington made the following proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation, for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war, for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us. And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed, to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and Us, and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best. Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington again proclaimed a Thanksgiving in 1795.

President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. No Thanksgiving proclamations were issued by Thomas Jefferson but James Madison renewed the tradition in 1814, in response to resolutions of Congress, at the close of the War of 1812. Madison also declared the holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these were celebrated in autumn. In 1816, Governor Plamer of New Hampshire appointed Thursday, November 14 to be observed as a day of Public Thanksgiving and Governor Brooks of Massachusetts appointed Thursday, November 28 to be "observed throughout that State as a day of Thanksgiving."

A thanksgiving day was annually appointed by the governor of New York from 1817. In some of the Southern states there was opposition to the observance of such a day on the ground that it was a relic of Puritanic bigotry, but by 1858 proclamations appointing a day of thanksgiving were issued by the governors of 25 states and two territories.

Early Thanksgiving Celebrations in the United States

2010-01-12T03:08:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God.

It is thought that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin,and squash. William Bradford's note that, "besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many," probably gave rise to the American tradition of turkey at Thanksgiving.

While not official, the Thanksgiving holiday can be viewed as a celebration of autumn and an unofficial beginning to the Christmas and holiday season, which ends shortly after New Year's Day.

History

1619 The true First Thanksgiving, the Virginia colony

On December 4, 1619, 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Hundred, which comprised about 8,000 acres (32 km²) on the north bank of the James River, near Herring Creek, in an area then known as Charles Cittie, about 20 miles (32 km) upstream from Jamestown, where the first permanent settlement of the Colony of Virginia had been established on May 14, 1607.

The group's charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to God. On that first day, Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving. As quoted from the section of the Charter of Berkeley Hundred specifying the thanksgiving service: "We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God."

During the Indian Massacre of 1622, nine of the settlers at Berkeley Hundreds were killed, as well as about a third of the entire population of the Virginia Colony. The Berkeley Hundred site and other outlying locations were abandoned as the colonists withdrew to Jamestown and other more secure points.

After several years, the site became Berkeley Plantation, and was long the traditional home of the Harrison family, one of the First Families of Virginia. In 1634, it became part of the first eight shires of Virginia, as Charles City County, one of the oldest in the United States, and is located along Virginia State Route 5, which runs parallel to the river's northern borders past sites of many of the James River Plantations between the colonial capital city of Williamsburg (now the site of Colonial Williamsburg) and the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia at Richmond.

1621, The Pilgrims at Plymouth

The modern Thanksgiving holiday traces its origins from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season.

Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned English while enslaved in Europe and during travels in England). Additionally the Wampanoag leader Massasoit had caused food stores to be donated to the fledgling colony during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient. The Pilgrims set apart a day to celebrate at Plymouth immediately after their first harvest, in 1621. At the time, this was not regarded as a Thanksgiving observance; harvest festivals existed in English and Wampanoag tradition alike. Several colonists gave personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims, most of whom were Separatists, are not to be confused with Puritans who established their own Massachusetts Bay Colony nearby (current day Boston) in 1628 and had very different religious beliefs.

William Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation:

Thus they found the Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to bless their outgoings and incomings, for which let His holy name have the praise forever, to all posterity. They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.

Edward Winslow, in Mourt's Relation:

Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.

The Pilgrims held an even greater Thanksgiving celebration in 1623, after a switch from communal farming to privatized farming and a refreshing rain resulted in a larger harvest. Referring to the 1623 harvest after a nearly catastrophic drought, Bradford wrote:

And afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving… By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty … for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had … pretty well … so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.

Irregular Thanksgivings continued after favorable events and days of fasting after unfavorable ones. In the Plymouth tradition, a thanksgiving day was a church observance, rather than a feast day. Gradually, an annual Thanksgiving after the harvest developed in the mid-17th century. This did not occur on any set day or necessarily on the same day in different colonies in America.

Other colonies

The Massachusetts Bay Colony (consisting mainly of Puritan Christians) celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in 1630, and frequently thereafter until about 1680, when it became an annual festival in that colony; and Connecticut as early as 1639 and annually after 1647, except in 1675. The Dutch in New Netherland appointed a day for giving thanks in 1644 and occasionally thereafter.

Charlestown, Massachusetts held the first recorded Thanksgiving observance June 29, 1671 by proclamation of the town's governing council.

Later in the 1700s individual colonies would periodically designate a day of thanksgiving in honor of a military victory, an adoption of a state constitution or an exceptionally bountiful crop. Such a Thanksgiving Day celebration was held in December 1777 by the colonies nationwide, commemorating the surrender of British General Burgoyne at Saratoga.

During the 18th century individual colonies commonly observed days of thanksgiving throughout each year. We might not recognize a traditional Thanksgiving Day from that period, as it was not a day marked by plentiful food and drink as is today's custom, but rather a day set aside for prayer and fasting.

Pilgrims Going to Church

2009-12-07T21:37:00.000-06:00

Pilgrims Going to Church

George Boughton

Purchase Print Here

Turkeys as Food

2009-11-14T21:30:00.000-06:00

Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of Christmas feasts in much of the world (stuffed turkey) , as well as Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada, though this tradition has its origins in modern times, rather than colonial as is often supposed. Before the 20th century, pork ribs were the most common food on the holiday, as the animals were usually slaughtered in November. Turkeys were once so abundant in the wild that they were eaten throughout the year, the food considered commonplace, whereas pork ribs were rarely available outside of the Thanksgiving-New Year season. It has also displaced, to a certain extent, the traditional Christmas roast goose or beef of the United Kingdom and Europe. While eating turkey was once mainly restricted to special occasions such as these, turkey is now eaten year-round and forms a regular part of many diets.

Turkeys are sold sliced and ground, as well as "whole" in a manner similar to chicken with the head, feet, and feathers removed. Frozen whole turkeys remain popular. Sliced turkey is frequently used as a sandwich meat or served as cold cuts; in some cases where recipes call for chicken it can be used as a substitute. Ground turkey is sold just as ground beef, and is frequently marketed as a healthy beef substitute. Without careful preparation, cooked turkey is usually considered to end up less moist than other poultry meats such as chicken or duck. Leftovers from roast turkey are generally served as cold cuts on Boxing Day in Canada.

Wild turkeys, while technically the same species as domesticated turkeys, have a very different taste from farm-raised turkeys. Almost all of the meat is "dark" (even the breast) with a more intense flavor. The flavor can also vary seasonally with changes in available forage, often leaving wild turkey meat with a gamier flavor in late summer due to the greater number of insects in its diet over the preceding months. Wild turkey that has fed predominantly on grass and grain has a milder flavor. Older heritage breeds also differ in flavor.

A large amount of turkey meat is processed. It can be smoked and as such is sometimes sold as turkey ham. Twisted helices of deep fried turkey meat, sold as "turkey twizzlers," came to prominence in the UK in 2004 when chef Jamie Oliver campaigned to have them and similar foods removed from school dinners.

In the UK in 2009, 7,734,000 Turkeys were consumed on Christmas Day.

Cooking

Both fresh and frozen turkeys are used for cooking; as with most foods, fresh turkeys are generally preferred, although they cost more. Around holiday seasons, high demand for fresh turkeys often makes them difficult to purchase without ordering in advance. For the frozen variety, the large size of the turkeys typically used for consumption makes defrosting them a major endeavor: a typically sized turkey will take several days to properly defrost.

Turkeys are usually baked or roasted in an oven for several hours, often while the cook prepares the remainder of the meal. Sometimes, a turkey is brined before roasting to enhance flavor and moisture content. This is necessary because the dark meat requires a higher temperature to denature all of the myoglobin pigment than the white meat(very low in myoglobin), so that fully cooking the dark meat tends to dry out the breast. Brining makes it possible to fully cook the dark meat without drying the breast meat. Turkeys are sometimes decorated with turkey frills prior to serving.

In some areas, particularly the American South, they may also be deep fried in hot oil (often peanut oil) for 30 to 45 minutes by using a turkey fryer. Deep frying turkey has become something of a fad, with hazardous consequences for those unprepared to safely handle the large quantities of hot oil required.

Nutritional value

The white meat of turkey is generally considered healthier than dark meat because of its lower fat content, but the nutritional differences are small. And although turkey is reputed to cause sleepiness, holiday dinners are commonly large meals served with carbohydrates, fats, and alcohol in a relaxed atmosphere, all of which are bigger contributors to post-meal sleepiness than the tryptophan in turkey.

Domesticated Turkeys

2009-10-14T21:23:00.017-05:00

The domesticated turkey is a large poultry bird. The modern domesticated turkey descends from the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), one of the two species of turkey (genus Meleagris); in the past the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) was also domesticated.

The turkey is raised throughout temperate parts of the world and is a popular form of poultry, partially because industrialized farming has made it very cheap for the amount of meat it produces. The female domesticated turkey is referred to as a hen and the chick as a poult. In the United States, the male is referred to as a tom, while in Europe, the male is a stag. The average lifespan for a domesticated turkey is ten years.

The great majority of domesticated turkeys are bred to have white feathers because their pin feathers are less visible when the carcass is dressed, although brown or bronze-feathered varieties are also raised. The fleshy protuberance atop the beak is the snood and the one attached to the underside of the beak is known as a wattle.

Despite the name, turkeys have no direct relation to the country of Turkey and are native to North America; see further under Turkey (bird): History and naming.

History

The modern domesticated turkey is descended from one of six subspecies of wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo, ancient Mesoamericans having chosen to domesticate this taxon. The Aztecs domesticated the turkey (Mexican Spanish guajolote, from Nahuatl huexolotl) and used it as a major source of protein (meat and eggs), and also employed its feathers extensively for decorative purposes, as did many other Mesoamerican cultures. The turkey was associated with their trickster god Tezcatlipoca, perhaps because of its humorous behavior. There is also evidence that it is possible the Hopi Indians may have domesticated the turkey even before the Aztecs.

Turkeys were taken to Europe by the Spanish, who had found them as a favorite domesticated animal among the Aztecs and other Mesoamerican peoples. After being introduced to Europe, many distinct turkey breeds were developed (e.g. Spanish Black, Royal Palm). In the early 20th century, many advances were made in the breeding of turkeys, resulting in varieties such as the Beltsville Small White.

Commercial Productions

Prior to World War II, turkey was something of a luxury in the United Kingdom, with goose or beef a more common Christmas dinner (In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchit had a goose before Scrooge bought him a turkey).

Turkey production in the United Kingdom was centered in East Anglia, using two breeds, the Norfolk Black and the Norfolk Bronze (also known as Cambridge Bronze). These would be driven as flocks, after shoeing, down to markets in London from the 17th century onwards - the breeds having arrived in the early 16th century via Spain (1500).

Intensive farming of turkeys from the late 1940s dramatically cut the price, and it became the most common Christmas dinner meat. With the availability of refrigeration, whole turkeys could be shipped frozen to distant markets. Later advances in disease control increased production even more. Advances in shipping, changing consumer preferences and the proliferation of commercial poultry plants has made fresh turkey inexpensive as well as readily available.

In commercial production, breeder farms supply eggs to hatcheries. After 28 days, the hatched poults are sexed and delivered to the grow-out farms; hens are raised separately from toms because of different growth rates. Rations generally include corn and soybean meal, with added vitamins and minerals, and is adjusted for protein, carbohydrate and fat based on the age and nutrient requirements. Hens are killed (or harvested as turkey breeders say) at about 14 weeks and toms at about 18 weeks.

The dominant commercial breed is the Broad-breasted Whites (similar to "White Holland", but a separate breed), which have been selected for size and amount of meat. Mature toms are too large to achieve natural fertilization without injuring the hens, so their semen is collected, and hens are inseminated artificially. Several hens can be inseminated from each collection, so fewer toms are needed. Breeders' meat is too tough for roasting, and is mostly used to make processed meats.

In the UK Bernard Matthews is a large producer of turkeys. Cargill, Butterball and Jennie-O (Hormel) are large producers in the US.

Intelligence

Turkeys are popularly believed to be unintelligent, with claims made that during a rain storm turkeys will look up until they drown. Despite this image, the turkey is no more or less intelligent than a comparable animal, and while the birds will look at the sky for up to a minute during a rain storm, this is due to a genetic nervous disorder known as tetanic torticollar spasms. Other jests include that it is clumsy and too stupid to realize it can't fly, but both traits are due to modern breeding that makes turkeys much heavier than their wild relatives.

How Did Turkeys Get Their Name?

2009-09-09T21:18:00.017-05:00

A turkey is either of two or three living species of large birds in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The other species, Meleagris ocellata, known as the Ocellated Turkey, is native to the forests of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The domestic turkey is a descendant of the Wild Turkey and features prominently in the menu of the U.S. and Canadian holidays of Thanksgiving and that of Christmas in many countries.

Turkeys are classed in the taxonomic order of Galliformes. Within this order they are relatives of the family/subfamily Tetraonidae (grouse). Turkeys have a distinctive fleshy wattle that hangs from the underside of the beak, and a fleshy protuberance that hangs from the top of its beak called a snood. With wingspans of 1.5–1.8 metres (4.9–5.9 ft), the turkeys are by far the largest birds in the open forests in which they live. As with many galliform species, the female (hen) is smaller and is much less colorful than the male (tom or gobbler).

History and Naming

When Europeans first encountered turkeys in the America Continent they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl (Numididae), also known as Turkey fowl (or Turkey hen and Turkey cock) from their importation to Central Europe through Turkey, and that name, shortened to just the name of the country, stuck as the name of the bird. The confusion between these kinds of birds from related but different families is also reflected in the scientific name for the turkey genus, meleagris(μελεαγρίς), which is Greek for guineafowl. The domesticated turkey is attributed to Aztec agriculture, which addressed one subspecies of Meleagris gallopavo local to the present day states of Jalisco and Guerrero.

The names for M. gallopavo in other languages also frequently reflect its exotic origins, seen from an Old World viewpoint, and add to the confusion about where turkeys actually came from. The many references to India seen in common names go back to a combination of two factors: first, the genuine belief that the newly-discovered Americas were in fact a part of Asia, and second, the tendency during that time to attribute exotic animals and foods to a place that symbolized far-off, exotic lands. The latter is reflected in terms like "Muscovy Duck" (which is from South America, not Muscovy). This was a major reason why the name Turkey fowl stuck to Meleagris rather than to the guinea fowl (Numida meleagris): the Ottoman Empire represented the exotic East.

The name given to a group of turkeys is a rafter, although they are sometimes incorrectly referred to as a gobble or flock.

Several other birds which are sometimes called turkeys are not particularly closely related: the Australian Brush-turkey is a megapode, and the bird sometimes known as the "Australian Turkey" is in fact the Australian Bustard, a gruiform. The bird sometimes called a Water Turkey is actually an Anhinga (Anhinga rufa).

To learn more, read The Complete Book of the Wild Turkey: Natural History, Range, Management, and Hunting of America's Greatest Game Bird

Unthanksgiving Day

2009-08-10T04:02:00.000-05:00

Unthanksgiving Day (or Un-Thanksgiving Day) is an event held on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, in the United States of America, to honor the indigenous peoples of the Americas and promote their rights. It coincides with a similar protest, the National Day of Mourning, held in Massachusetts. Held annually since 1975, the Alcatraz ceremony honored the island's being occupied in a protest event in 1969 by the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement (ARPM). In more recent times, the annual ceremony has been organized by the International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary Arts.

The event is designed to commemorate the survival of Native American peoples following the settlement of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, which led to enormous losses among Indians from disease, warfare and social disruption. Organizers want it to serve in contrast to the traditional Thanksgiving story in which the Pilgrims amicably shared a meal with Native Americans.

Background

In 1969, a number of Native American members of the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement (ARPM) occupied the island of Alcatraz, under the terms of an 1868 treaty that allocated surplus government land to Native Americans. The occupation of Alcatraz was led by the group Indians of All Tribes and it lasted for 19 months, from November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971. They were visited by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who, inspired by the occupation, led other protests, their first on Thanksgiving in 1970 when they painted Plymouth Rock red. (That protest, known as the National Day of Mourning, continues to this day.)

The US government ended the Alcatraz occupation with force. During the occupation, hundreds of Native Americans joined the movement to speak out for their rights. This was part of a dramatic period of Indian activism and protest, at a time of other activism for civil rights of various minorities. The AIM was formed mostly by urban Indians, who wanted to protect their civil rights, as well as work for more government support for education and health initiatives.

Contemporary observance

Every year on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday in November, several thousand indigenous people and spectators travel to Alcatraz Island. Several groups dance before sunrise, to honor their ancestors; others demonstrate the beauty of their cultures in other ways, and speak out for the rights of their people. The celebration attracts other groups fighting for the rights of indigenous people, as well as peace activists.

Black Friday — The Day After Thanksgiving

2009-07-24T03:52:00.000-05:00

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. According to Reuters, in 2007 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but as many workers have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers (depending on the location) such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term "Black Friday" has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term "Black Friday" may have originated in Philadelphia, where it was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Turkey Trot

2009-06-23T00:58:00.000-05:00

A Turkey Trot is a fun run or footrace that is held on or around Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Americans anticipate indulgent Thanksgiving feasts and run in turkey trots to burn off calories before the big meal.

In many parts of the United States, Turkey Trots are as associated with Thanksgiving tradition as the meal itself. Many courses used for these Thanksgiving events are run at major certified USA Track and Field road race distances between 5,000 and 42,195 meters. Some organizations hold their Turkey Trots the week prior to Thanksgiving in order to provide festive holiday meals to homeless and low-income families in their community. Turkey Trots range in size from just a few dozen runners to tens of thousands. Most Turkey Trots benefit local charities.

Established in 1896, the Buffalo, New York Turkey Trot race is the oldest continually running public footrace in North America. The race on Thursday, November 27, 2008, marked its 113th consecutive start; the footrace is a popular fundraiser for the local branch of the YMCA and drew a crowd of 10,250 runners in 2008.

Since 1983, there has also been a 5-mile Turkey Trot Fun Run in Manasquan, New Jersey. Each year the race is limited to the first 2,000 applicants. The race has an accompanying theme of giving and has raised $565,802 in donations during its first 25 years. Traditionally it is held the Saturday before the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Other notable Thanksgiving Day Races include the Manchester Road Race held in Manchester, Connecticut, the Detroit Turkey Trot, The Philadelphia Turkey Trot Organized by the Schuylkill Navy for rowers, the Cincinnati Thanksgiving Day Race (Cincinnati, Ohio), Stuffing Strut and Mashed Potato Mile in Detroit, Michigan the Atlanta Marathon in Atlanta, Georgia and the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot organized by Applied Materials.

Turkey Bowling

2009-05-23T04:05:00.015-05:00

Turkey bowling is a sport which is based on ordinary bowling: a frozen turkey serves as a bowling ball and 10 plastic bottles of soft drinks or water are the bowling pins. The turkey is bowled down a smooth surface, for example, ice. It is commonly associated with Thanksgiving.

Turkey bowling is popular in minor league ice hockey in the United States and Canada.

The original variant involves turkey bowling in an aisle of a grocery store. A Derrick Johnson claims to have invented turkey bowling in 1988 when he worked as a grocery clerk at a Newport Beach Lucky's branch, while observing a manager slide a frozen turkey across the floor and accidentally topple a soda bottle.

Derrick became a self-appointed commissioner of the "Poultry Bowlers Association" and codified the rules and terminology, such as "the fowl line" (cf. "foul line"), "the gobbler (three strikes in a row; cf. turkey (bowling)), and "the wishbone" (a 7-10 split).

Notable occurrences

In 2003, an upcoming event for the title of UK Great Turkey Bowling Champion at M.E.N. Arena was protested against by animal rights campaigners. As a result, plastic turkeys were used instead of real ones.

Turkey bowling was also featured in the 1995 novel Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore, where it was the favorite sport of "The Animals", a wild group of night grocery stockers (continued in the sequel You Suck: A Love Story).

Controversy

Animal rights proponents, who oppose the use of animals in sports, claim that turkey bowling is disrespectful to animals and sends mixed messages which may encourage violence to animals or people. Another objection is perceived disrespect to the central attribute of Thanksgiving. Animal sanctuaries have rescued live turkeys from turkey bowling events. At least one turkey bowling event, in Phoenix, Arizona, bowed to this pressure and substituted plastic turkeys for the frozen birds.

Cyber Thanksgiving

2009-04-20T11:56:00.003-05:00

The term Cyber Thanksgiving, refers to online retailer's Thanksgiving Day promotions. According to The Record:

Thanksgiving Day is becoming increasingly important for online sales, according to e-commerce watchers. It has become the lead-in for five days of online deals experts say are causing some bargain hunters to shop online instead of standing in line at stores.

“Thanksgiving interestingly enough has turned into a really big sales day for us in the last couple or years,” said Greg Ahearn, senior vice president, marketing and e-commerce, for Wayne-based Toys “R” Us Inc. “Everybody’s looking for information about what’s going to happen on Black Friday, but when they hit the Web sites they realize there’s a bunch of great deals there, and free shipping,’’ he said. “And if they get the right deals on the products that they’re looking for, they actually create a purchase on Thanksgiving Day as opposed to waiting for Black Friday.”

Thanksgiving Day Football

2009-03-18T03:43:00.000-05:00

American football is an important part of many Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States. Professional games are traditionally held on Thanksgiving Day; until recently, these were the only games played during the week apart from Sunday or Monday night. The National Football League has played games on Thanksgiving every year since its creation; the tradition is referred to as the Thanksgiving Classic. The Detroit Lions have hosted a game every Thanksgiving Day since 1934, with the exception of 1939–1944 (due to World War II).

For many college football teams, the regular season ends on Thanksgiving weekend, and a team's final game is often against a regional or historic rival. Most of these college games are played on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, but usually a single college game is played on Thanksgiving itself. The best-known Thanksgiving holiday weekend games include:

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Missouri Tigers (the Border Showdown)
Ole Miss Rebels vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (the Egg Bowl)
BYU Cougars vs. Utah Utes (the Holy War)
LSU Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (the Battle for the Golden Boot)
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate)
Clemson Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies (the Lone Star Showdown)
Houston Cougars vs. Rice Owls (the Bayou Bucket)
Florida Gators vs. Florida State Seminoles (the Sunshine Showdown)
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (the Backyard Brawl)
Grambling State University Tigers vs. Southern University Jaguars (the Bayou Classic)
Alabama State University Hornets vs. Tuskegee University Golden Tigers (the Turkey Day Classic)
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys (the Bedlam Series)
Auburn Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide (the Iron Bowl)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. USC Trojans (The Notre Dame-USC rivalry game has taken place in almost every season since 1926, with the home team alternating from year to year. When USC hosts, the game takes place on Thanksgiving weekend; when Notre Dame hosts, the game typically occurs sometime in October.)

High school football games, and informal "Turkey Bowl" contests played by amateur groups and organizations, are frequently held on Thanksgiving weekend.

Editor's note: See our sister blog History of Football for some great vintage posters and football advertising images..

Giving Thanks

2009-02-27T09:40:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving was originally a religious observance for all the members of the community to give thanks to God for a common purpose. Historic reasons for community thanksgivings are the 1541 thanksgiving mass after the expedition of Coronado safely crossing part of Texas and finding game, and the 1777 thanksgiving after the victory in the revolutionary battle of Saratoga. In his 1789 Proclamation, President Washington gave many noble reasons for a national Thanksgiving, including “for the civil and religious liberty,” for “useful knowledge,” and for God’s “kind care” and "His Providence." The only presidents to inject a specifically Christian focus to their proclamation have been Grover Cleveland in 1896, and William McKinley in 1900. Several other presidents have cited the Judeo-Christian tradition. Gerald Ford's 1975 declaration made no clear reference to any divinity.

The tradition of giving thanks to God is continued today in various forms. Various religious and spiritual organizations offer services and events on Thanksgiving themes the week-end before, the day of, or the week-end after Thanksgiving.

At home, it is a holiday tradition in many families to begin the Thanksgiving dinner by saying grace (a prayer before or after a meal). The custom is portrayed in the photograph “Family Holding Hands and Praying Before a Thanksgiving Meal.” Traditionally grace was led by the hostess or host, though in later times it is usual for others to contribute.

Foods of the Thanksgiving Season

2009-01-16T10:37:00.000-06:00

U.S. tradition compares the holiday with a meal held in 1621 by the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is continued in modern times with the Thanksgiving dinner, traditionally featuring turkey, playing a large role in the celebration of Thanksgiving. Some of the details of the American Thanksgiving story are myths that developed in the 1890s and early 1900s as part of the effort to forge a common national identity in the aftermath of the Civil War and in the melting pot of new immigrants.

Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Firstly, baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived. As an alternative to turkey, many vegetarians or vegans eat tofurky, a meatless turkey made of tofu.

The less fortunate are often provided with food at Thanksgiving time. Most communities have annual food drives that collect non-perishable packaged and canned foods, and corporations sponsor charitable distributions of staple foods and Thanksgiving dinners.

Cornucopia Horn of Plenty

2008-11-24T02:18:00.002-06:00

Cornucopia

Available Here as a Reproduction Art Print

Cornucopia, the Horn of Plenty or Horn of Amalthea, a.k.a. Harvest Cone

2008-11-23T02:20:00.000-06:00

The cornucopia (Latin: Cornu Copiae) is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology, Amalthea was a goat who raised Zeus on her breast milk. When her horn was accidentally broken off by Zeus while playing together, this changed Amalthea into a unicorn with 17 whiskers. The god Zeus, in remorse, gave her back her horn. The horn then had supernatural powers which would give person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat's horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, was depicted with the horn of plenty. The cornucopia was also a symbol for a woman's fertility.

In modern depiction, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket typically filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. In North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest.

Cornucopia is also the name of Whistler's annual Wine and Food celebration held in November.

Two cornucopias are seen in the flag and state seal of Idaho. There is also one seen in the state seal of North Carolina, the state seal of New Jersey and the coat of arms of Peru.

The Canadian Thanksgiving

2008-11-22T02:22:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Action de grâce), on the second Monday in October, is an annual holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. Although some people thank God for this bounty, the holiday is mainly considered secular.

Traditional celebration

Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in all jurisdictions, with the exception of the provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Where a company is regulated by the federal government (such as those in the Telecommunications and Banking sectors), it is recognized regardless of status provincially.

As a liturgical festival, Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and continental European Harvest festival, with churches decorated with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty, English and European harvest hymns sung on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend and scriptural selections drawn from biblical stories relating to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot[citation needed].

While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians might eat their Thanksgiving meal on any day of the three day weekend. Thanksgiving is often celebrated with family, it is also often a time for weekend getaways for couples to observe the autumn leaves, spend one last weekend at the cottage, or participate in various outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, and hunting.

Much like its American counterpart, Canada's top professional football league, the Canadian Football League, holds a nationally televised doubleheader known as the "Thanksgiving Day Classic." It is one of two weeks in which the league plays on Monday afternoons, the other being the Labour Day Classic. Unlike the Labour Day games, the teams that play on the Thanksgiving Day Classic rotate each year.

History of Thanksgiving in Canada

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in North America, although celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops had been a long-standing tradition throughout North America by various First Nations and Native American groups. First Nations and Native Americans throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Cree and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their First Nations neighbours.

After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763 handing over New France to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year. After the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal to Great Britain moved from the United States and came to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. The first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year. The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed year to year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In the early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.

After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays, and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed:
“A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

Thanksgiving Greetings

2008-11-21T02:23:00.010-06:00

Thanksgiving Greeting, Turkey and Pumpkin

Click here for a reproduction art print

Lohri--The Indian Version of Thanksgiving

2008-11-20T02:24:00.000-06:00

Lohri is the Indian version of an annual thanksgiving day and an extremely popular harvest festival in India, especially Northern India. Come January, and the fields of Punjab are filled with the golden harvest of wheat and farmers celebrate Lohri during this rest period before the harvesting and gathering of crops. Lohri is usually celebrated in the outdoors by friends and family who get together and have a bonfire in the evening.

During the day, children go from door to door singing folk songs in praise of Dulha Bhatti, a thief in folklore who helps the poor and fights for their rights. These children are given sweets and savories, and occasionally, money. These collections are known as Lohri, and they are distributed at night during the festival. Some may be offered to the sacred fire. Peanuts, popcorn and other food items are also thrown into the fire as an offering to the God of Fire, Agni.

Origin of Lohri

The origin of the Lohri can be traced back to the tale of Dulla Bhatti. By the end of the first week of January, small groups of boys ring the doorbell of houses and start chanting the Lohri songs related to Dulla Bhatti. In turn, the people give them popcorn, peanuts, crystal sugar, sesame seeds (til) or gur as well as money. Turning them back empty-handed is regarded inauspicious.

Lohri marks the end of winter on the last day of Paush, and beginning of Magha (around January 12 and 13), when the sun changes its course. It is associated with the worship of the sun and fire and is observed by all communities with different names, as Lohri is an exclusively Punjabi festival. The questions like When it began and why is lost in the mists of antiquity.

The origin of Lohri is related to the central character of most Lohri songs is Dulla Bhatti, a Muslim highway robber who lived in Punjab during the reign of Emperor Akbar. Besides robbing the rich, he rescued Hindu girls being forcibly taken to be sold in slave market of the Middle East. He arranged their marriages to Hindu boys with Hindu rituals and provided them with dowries. Understandably, though a bandit, he became a hero of all Punjabis. So every other Lohri song has words to express gratitude to Dulla Bhatti.

Some believe that Lohri has derived its name from Loi, the wife of Sant Kabir, for in rural Punjab Lohri is pronounced as Lohi. Others believe that Lohri comes from the word 'loh', a thick iron sheet tawa used for baking chapattis for community feasts. Another legend says that Holika and Lohri were sisters. While the former perished in the Holi fire, the latter survived. Eating of til (sesame seeds) and rorhi (jaggery) is considered to be essential on this day. Perhaps the words til and rorhi merged to become tilorhi, which eventually got shortened to Lohri.

Ceremonies that go with the festival of Lohri usually consists of making a small image of the Lohri goddess with gobar (cattle dung), decorating it, kindling a fire beneath it and chanting its praises. The final ceremony is to light a large bonfire at sunset, toss sesame seeds, gur, sugar-candy and rewaries in it, sit round it, sing, dance till the fire dies out. People take dying embers of the fire to their homes. In Punjabi village homes, fire is kept going round the clock by use of cow-dung cakes.

Time of Lohri

According to the Hindu calendar, Lohri falls in mid-January (13th January). The earth, farthest from the sun at this point of time, starts its journey towards the sun, thus ending the coldest month of the year and announcing the start of the summer season.

Lohri Celebrations

While Lohri is essentially a Punjabi festival, it is celebrated in some other states of North India as well. In cities like Delhi, which have a predominant Punjabi population, Lohri is celebrated to denote the last of the coldest days of winter. Apart from Punjab, people from other northern Indian states of Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, become busy making preparations for Lohri. For them, Lohri is an appropriate occasion to come out of their homes and celebrate the harvesting of the Rabi (winter) crops and give in to relaxing and enjoying the traditional folk songs and dances.

In houses that have recently had a marriage or childbirth, Lohri celebrations will reach a higher pitch of excitement. Punjabis usually have private Lohri celebrations, in their houses. Lohri rituals are performed, with the accompaniment of special Lohri songs. A bonfire is made and a prayer is performed to Agni, the god of Fire, and Prasad is distributed. The prasad comprises five main foods - til, gachchak, gur, moongphali (peanuts) and phuliya or popcorn. Milk and water are also poured around the bonfire by Hindus. This ritual is performed for thanking the Sun God and seeking his continued protection.

Singing and dancing form an intrinsic part of the celebrations. People wear their brightest clothes and come to dance the bhangra and gidda to the beat of the dhol. Punjabi songs are sung, and everybody rejoices. Sarson ka saag and makki ki roti is usually served as the main course at a Lohri dinner. Lohri is a great occasion that does not hold importance for farmers alone but also to those people residing in the urban area, as this festival provide the opportunity to interact with family and friends.

Lohri Celebrations in other Parts of India

Lohri is celebrated throughout the country in different forms, as a harvest festival.

Pongal in the South, Bhugali Bihu in Assam, Bhogi in Andhra Pradesh, Sankranti in Karnataka and the central part of the country.

Though modes of celebrating Lohri in India are different, but the message conveyed by the festival, that of setting aside differences and rejoicing by celebrating the end of the harvest season and the chilly winter is the same everywhere.

Lohri Songs

“The 'ho's are in chorus"

Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicaharaa ho!
Dullah bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!
Ser shakkar payee ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka ho!
Kudi da saalu paatta ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
bade bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee pakad ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari eet!
Sanoo de de lohri te teri jeeve jodi!(Cry or howl!)
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pit!

Translation
“The 'ho's are in chorus
Who do you have
The groom with the tandoor
The groom’s daughter got married
He gave 1 kg sugar!
The girl is wearing a red suit!
But her shawl is torn!
Who will stitch her shawl?!
The uncle made choori!
The landlords ate it!
He made the landlords eat a lot!
Lots of innocent guys came
One innocent boy got left behind
The police arrested him!
The policeman hit him with a brick!
Cry or howl!
Give us lohri ..long live your couple!
Whether you cry, or bang your head later!

Pilgrim Boy with Turkey

2008-11-19T02:26:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim Boy with Turkey

This image is available as a high-quality art print.

Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving Holiday

2008-11-18T02:27:00.000-06:00

Chuseok, originally known as Hangawi (한가위) (from archaic Korean for "great middle"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food.

Origins

Historically and according to popular belief, Chuseok originates from Gabae started during the reign of the third king of the kingdom of Silla (57 BC - AD 935), when it was a month-long weaving contest between two teams. Come the day of Gabae, the team that had woven more cloth had won and was treated to a feast by the losing team.

Many scholars also believe Chuseok may originate from ancient shamanistic celebrations of the harvest moon. New harvests are offered to local deities and ancestors, which means Chuseok may have originated as a worship ritual. In some areas, if there is no harvest, worship rituals are postponed, or in areas with no annual harvest, Chuseok is not celebrated.

Traditional customs

In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

Folk games

A variety of folk games are played on Chuseok to celebrate the coming of Autumn and rich harvest. Village folk dress themselves to look like a cow or a turtle, and go from house to house along with a Nongak band playing music. Other common folk games played on Chuseok are tug of war, ssirum, archery and gama fighting. Folk games also vary from region to region. Ganggang sullae dance which is forming a circle under a moon is performed by women and children in southwestern coastal regions, and cockfight or bullfighting in the southern regions.

Thanksgiving Turkey with Knife and Fork

2008-11-17T02:28:00.000-06:00

This is a terrific traditional image! American Turkey, Knife and Fork
is available as a reproduction Art Print

Lammas (Loaf-Mass Day) or Lughnasadh, a pre-Christian Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-16T02:31:00.000-06:00

In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day (loaf-mass day), the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. In many parts of England, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits". The blessing of new fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first, or the sixth, of August. The Sacramentary of Pope Gregory I (died 604) specifies the sixth.[citation needed]

In mediæval times the feast was known as the "Gule of August", but the meaning of "gule" is unknown. Ronald Hutton suggests that it may be an Anglicisation of gŵyl aust, the Welsh name for August 1 meaning "feast of August", but this is not certain. If so, this points to a pre-Christian origin for Lammas among the Anglo-Saxons and a link to the Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh. 'Gule' could also come from 'Geohhol' (Old English form of 'jule') and thus Lammas Day was the 'Jule of August'.[citation needed]

There are several historical references to it being known as Lambess eve, such as 'Publications of the Scottish Historical Society' 1964 and this alternate name is the origin of the Lambess surname, just as Hallowmass and Christmas were also adopted as familial titles.

People in the Southern Hemisphere that celebrate Lammas do so February 1, to reflect the 6 month offset of seasons on the other side of the planet.

Neopaganism

Lammas is a neopagan holiday, being a cross-quarter holiday between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and Fall Equinox (Mabon). It is opposite Candlemas or Imbolc, in early February. Lammas takes place with the Sun near the midpoint of Leo. Candlemas takes place with the Sun near the midpoint of Aquarius.

A Patriotic Turkey for Thanksgiving

2008-11-15T02:37:00.001-06:00

This delightful, all-American image is available here: Greetings, Patriotic Turkey

Sukkot -- Jewish Thanksgiving and Harvest Festival

2008-11-14T02:38:00.000-06:00

Sukkot (Hebrew: סוכות or סֻכּוֹת, sukkōt ; "booths", also known as Sukkos, Succoth, Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles), is a Biblical pilgrimage festival that occurs in autumn on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (late September to late October). The holiday lasts seven days, including Chol Hamoed. In Judaism it is one of the three major holidays known collectively as the Shalosh Regalim (three pilgrim festivals), when historically the Jewish populace traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Pilgrims and a Turkey on a Leash

2008-11-13T02:42:00.000-06:00

Greetings, Pilgrims Carrying Food

is available as a reproduction

Art Print

Pilgrim Memorial State Park

2008-08-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

Pilgrim Memorial State Park comprises two monuments in Plymouth, Massachusetts: Plymouth Rock and the National Monument to the Forefathers. Closely related to these memorials is the Myles Standish Monument State Reservation which can be seen across the Plymouth Bay in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, these sites are managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

To learn more, visit Pilgrim Memorial State Park.

National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation

2008-07-20T19:38:00.003-05:00

National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is a ceremony that takes place at the White House every year. The President of the United States is presented with a live turkey. Generally the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board are involved. Since 1989 during the first Thanksgiving of President George H.W. Bush, the president has granted the turkey a "presidential pardon". The turkey is then taken to a farm where it may live out the rest of its natural life. For many years the turkeys were sent to Frying Pan Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. Starting in 2005, the pardoned turkeys have traveled to either Disneyland in California or Disney World in Florida to be the honorary Grand Marshals of Disney's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The origins of the tradition of pardoning the White House turkey is controversial. Many credit President Harry Truman with starting the informal and lighthearted tradition in 1947. However, the Truman Library says that no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs, or other contemporary records are known to exist that specify that he ever "pardoned" a turkey. The Eisenhower Presidential Library says documents in their collection reveal that President Dwight Eisenhower ate the birds presented to him during his two terms. President John F. Kennedy spontaneously spared a turkey on Nov. 19, 1963, just days before his assassination, but it was not granted a "pardon." The bird was wearing a sign reading, "Good Eatin' Mr. President." Kennedy responded, "Let's just keep him." President Ronald Reagan, while never officially pardoning a turkey, did deflect jokes in 1987 about pardoning Oliver North in the Iran-Contra Affair by joking about pardoning a bird name Charlie, who was already heading to a petting zoo.

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is depicted in the 30th episode of The West Wing, "Shibboleth".

Information and image of President Truman being presented a turkey are courtesy of Wikipedia.

Chef Cooks a Turkey, Dances with Another

2008-07-15T16:08:00.003-05:00

That turkey better get out of there if he knows what's good for him! For a high-quality art print of this image, go to: Dancing with a Turkey.

Thanksgiving by Norman Rockwell

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A poster of Norman Rockwell's classic cover. Click here for availability.

Plymouth Rock

2008-06-09T21:57:00.013-05:00

Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It is an important symbol in American history. There is no contemporaneous reference to the rock, and it is not referred to in Bradford's journal Of Plymouth Plantation or in Mourt's Relation. The first written reference to the Pilgrims landing on a rock is found 121 years after they landed. The rock is currently located on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

History

The location of the Plymouth Rock (more specifically, Dedham granodiorite, a glacial erratic), at the foot of Cole's Hill allegedly passed from generation to generation in the first century after the Pilgrims landing in 1620. When plans were afoot to build a wharf at the Pilgrim's landing site in 1741, a 94 year old Elder of the church named Thomas Faunce (who was the town record keeper for most of his adult life), identified the precise rock his father had told him was the first solid land the Pilgrims set foot upon. (However, the Pilgrims first landed near the site of modern Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620 before moving to Plymouth). The rock is located about 650 feet (200 m) from where it is generally accepted that the initial settlement was built on nearby Leyden Street leading up toward Burial Hill.

When Col. Theophilus Cotton and the townspeople of Plymouth decided to move the rock in 1774, the rock was split into two halves, and it was decided to leave the bottom portion behind at the wharf and the top half was relocated to the town's meeting-house.

Captain William Coit wrote in the Pennsylvania Journal of November 29, 1775, of a story of how he brought captive British sailors ashore "upon the same rock our ancestors first trod."

The upper portion of the rock was relocated from Plymouth's meeting-house to Pilgrim Hall in 1834. In 1859 the Pilgrim Society began building a Victorian canopy, designed by Hammatt Billings, at the wharf over the lower portion of the rock. Following its completion in 1867, the top of the rock was moved from Pilgrim Hall back to its original wharf location in 1880. The date "1620" was carved into the rock.

In 1920, the rock was relocated and the waterfront rebuilt to a design by noted landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff, with a waterfront promenade behind a low seawall, in such a way that when the rock was returned to its original site, it would be at water level. The care of the rock was turned over to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and a new very sober Roman Doric portico designed by McKim, Mead and White and Chesley Bonestell for viewing the tide-washed rock protected by gratings. During the Rock's many journeys throughout the town of Plymouth numerous pieces of the Rock were taken, bought and sold. Today approximately 1/3 of the top portion remains. It is estimated that the original Rock weighed 20,000 lb (9,100 kg). Although some documents indicate that tourists or souvenir hunters chipped it down, no pieces have been noticeably removed since 1880. Today there are pieces in Pilgrim Hall Museum as well as in the Patent Building in the Smithsonian.

In 1835 Alexis De Tocqueville, a French author traveling throughout the United States, wrote:

"This Rock has become an object of veneration in the United States. I have seen bits of it carefully preserved in several towns in the Union. Does this sufficiently show that all human power and greatness is in the soul of man? Here is a stone which the feet of a few outcasts pressed for an instant; and the stone becomes famous; it is treasured by a great nation; its very dust is shared as a relic."

A great piece of the Rock is set on a pedestal in the cloister of historic Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims on Brooklyn Heights. The Church formed by a merger of Plymouth Church and Church of the Pilgrims was once pastored by Henry Ward Beecher.

Current Status

Today Plymouth Rock is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as part of Pilgrim Memorial State Park. From the end of May to Thanksgiving Day, Pilgrim Memorial is staffed by park interpreters who inform visitors of the history of Plymouth Rock and answer questions.

2008-05-07T21:54:00.001-05:00

Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts

Thanksgiving art prints

Thanksgiving Day, Pilgrims at Plymouth

2008-04-20T21:52:00.001-05:00

Landing at Plymouth Rock

Thanksgiving Posters

Pilgrim Exhiles, Plymouth, Massachusetts

2008-03-04T21:44:00.000-06:00

Pilgrim Exiles, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Illustration

Check here for availability of reproduction print

Thanksgiving Scene in Pilgrim Kitchen

2008-02-14T23:41:00.005-06:00

Thanksgiving Scene in Pilgrim Kitchen

Reproduction print

Turkey and Pumpkin Pie

2008-01-15T20:50:00.001-06:00

I thought this was sweet. While surfing YouTube, I found a video of someone's granny singing a Thanksgiving song.

The Embarcation of the Pilgrims by Robert Weir

2007-12-07T21:39:00.000-06:00

The Embarcation of the Pilgrims

Robert Weir

Purchase print here.

Turkey Chases Girl

2007-11-12T22:56:00.001-06:00

Having once been chased by a Turkey in Mexico, I can attest to the viciousness of these birds!

First Thanksgiving from Mourt's Relation

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Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims in Plymouth was written primarily by Edward Winslow. Written between November 1620 and November 1621, it describes in detail what happened from the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims inside the fishhook tip of Cape Cod (became Provincetown Harbor), through their exploring and eventual settling of Plymouth Colony; the book describes their relations with the surrounding native Indians, up to the First Thanksgiving and the arrival of the ship Fortune in November 1621. Mourt's Relation was first published in London in 1622, presumably by George Morton (hence the title Mourt's Relation).

Our harvest being gotten in, our governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a speciall manner rejoyce together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours ; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine and others. And although it be not always so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.

Description of the First Thanksgiving

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William Bradford, from Of Plymouth Plantation:

They begane now to gather in ye small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; fFor as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which yey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion. All ye somer ther was no want. And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c. Besids, they had about a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corn to yt proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not fained, but true reports.

Written over a period of years by the leader of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation is the single most complete authority for the story of the Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded. Written between 1620 and 1647, the journal describes the story of the Pilgrims from 1608, when they settled in the Netherlands, through the 1620 Mayflower voyage, until the year 1647. The book ends with a list, written in 1650, of Mayflower passengers.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

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As Plenty's Guest

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Thank God for rest
where none molest
and none can make afraid.
For Peace that sits as Plenty's guest
Beneath the homestead's shade.
—John Greenleaf Whittier

For Thanksgiving

2007-11-02T13:05:00.001-05:00

Right Popular Birdie

2007-10-31T17:41:00.001-05:00

I'm the popular birdie
All right, all right!

A Bountiful Thanksgiving

2007-10-31T17:38:00.000-05:00

2007-10-27T21:57:00.001-05:00

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.

—Meister Eckhart

Plymouth Rock

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Missing You at Thanksgiving

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The table is loaded with goodies
The house is brimful of cheer
I've just one more wish for Thanksgiving
And that is that you were here.

Thanksgiving Greetings

2007-10-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

Glad Thanksgivings

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May glad Thanksgivings crown your days and years.

Good Wishes for Thanksgiving Day

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Good Wishes for Thanksgiving Day

Contentment and Peace

2007-10-27T17:10:00.001-05:00

May this day fill your heart with contentment and peace.

Thanksgiving Greetings

2007-10-27T16:58:00.000-05:00

A boy carves a pumpkin for Thanksgiving.