Happy Thanksgiving

 

November is best known for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Many people think of this as a simple eating marathon, but of course that isn't what it was meant to be. The first Thanksgiving was in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and was held to celebrate a successful harvest. It was based on English fall festivals, with a Pilgrim twist. This was the one we all learned about as gradeschoolers. I had never heard of the previous celebration in Jamestown in 1619. It was actually a prayer meeting, not a feast. The next official time was called "Solemn Thanksgiving" and was celebrated in June. A solemn Thanksgiving was known as a day of "fasting and humiliation." I am thinking it was a reminder to be humble and grateful for survival. It didn't really catch on. Most of us would rather feast than fast!

President George Washington declared a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789. Other early presidents kept it as a holiday, except for Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams because of their beliefs about the separation of church and state. It didn't become an official holiday until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation calling on the American people to unite and observe a special day of thankfulness. Since that time, it has been celebrated every year, and since 1941, has always been on the fourth Thursday of November.

Sarah Josepha Hale was the woman responsible for making this a national holiday. She was the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, which was a very popular nineteenth century lady's magazine. She wrote a novel called "Northwood" in 1827. In it she described a Thanksgiving dinner with our traditional foods. Her characters discussed why it should be a national holiday. Mrs. Hale sent letters to governors and Presidents for over thirty years (!) to actively promote a single, consistent date for Thanksgiving. Finally, in 1863, President Lincoln listened to her and reminded the war-torn nation to be grateful for the "blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies" in an official Proclamation.

Franklin Roosevelt changed the date to the third Thursday in November in 1939. He said that a longer Christmas shopping season would be better for economic recovery of the country. I'm pretty sure he was influenced by the retailers. Only 32 states accepted the new date, and finally in 1941, Congress set a fixed date of the fourth Thursday in November. I would prefer it to be the third.

Wishing everyone a happy day of peace and plenty with a reminder to us all to give thanks and be grateful.