It’s Thanksgiving, not Turkey Day!
Thanksgiving
Today is Thanksgiving not turkey day! Yes, turkey is the traditional main dish on Thanksgiving, but why don’t we call Christmas “gift day” or Easter “ham day”? It seems to me that Thanksgiving is becoming nothing more than the date on the calendar when people can officially start to shop for Christmas.
How did we get to the point that Thanksgiving is nothing more than the start of Christmas shopping. It seams to me that words mean things. I never heard the term “turkey day” referred to Thanksgiving until about ten years ago. That seems to correspond to the time when the notion of diversity and political correctness started to become mainstream. The notion that traditions can be discarded to sanitize an event as to not to offend someone is itself offensive to the majority who cherish those traditions. Just in case you were not paying attention during 3rd grade history here is a short time line for the origin of “Thanksgiving” courtesy of History.com.
FDR establishes modern Thanksgiving holiday
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as “Lecture Day,” a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.
Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.
With a few deviations, Lincoln’s precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president–until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt’s declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
I personally love Thanksgiving. It is one holiday where there is no pressure to give gifts. There is no unrealistic expectations, just get together with friends and family and enjoy a meal together. Take some time to do an inventory of what you are thankful for. Appreciate what you have. http://www.kurtsayce.com/wordpress/?p=8
Thank you all for input and support.
Kurt,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! I enjoy reading your blog. Good luck with your new venture.