From the time of the Revolutionary War, a Thanksgiving holiday was often declared by the president or Congress on a year-by-year (and sometimes state-by-state) basis, but it did not become an annual event with a fixed date until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln officially designated the last Thursday in N...
From the time of the Revolutionary War, a Thanksgiving holiday was often declared by the president or Congress on a year-by-year (and sometimes state-by-state) basis, but it did not become an annual event with a fixed date until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln officially designated the last Thursday in November as a national Thanksgiving holiday. Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it to the third Thursday in November, in 1939, in order to boost the economy by lengthening the holiday shopping season. After some controversy, Congress officially changed the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November, in 1941.
Turkey does contain the amino acid tryptophan, which is a natural sedative, but so do plenty of other foods, such as chicken, beef, pork, cheese and beans. Not only do all of these foods also contain protein, which negates the effects of tryptophan, but we generally don't ingest enough at one sitting to feel it. What does tend to make people exceptionally drowsy is eating a big, heavy meal -- Thanksgiving dinner, for example. Blood is diverted to the digestive system to help tackle all the fats and carbohydrates you've consumed, which decreases blood flow to your brain and makes you feel lethargic. Drinking alcohol makes matters worse. So even if you didn't eat any turkey, you'd still feel like taking a nap after dinner.
Yes, people flock to malls and big-box stores on "Black Friday" to take advantage of deep discounts and get a start on their holiday shopping. But while many stores report record numbers of shoppers on that day, those numbers aren't necessarily reflected in the sales figures. In actuality, the day after Thanksgiving generally ranks about fifth, after the two weekends before Christmas. Depending on what day of the week Christmas falls, the biggest shopping day of the year is usually the Saturday before Christmas or Dec. 23.
When the newly independent United States was choosing a national symbol, the country was still at war with England, and the bald eagle was deemed appropriately fierce and intimidating. However, Benjamin Franklin thought the wild turkey would be a better choice. He wrote a letter saying the bald eagle was "a bird of bad moral character," whereas "the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America," and while "a little vain and silly," was still a "bird of courage." The Continental Congress stuck with the bald eagle nonetheless.
While Americans often use these terms interchangeably, a true yam comes from a completely different plant family than the sweet potato. Yams, which originated in Africa, are grown in the Caribbean and are not widely available here, whereas sweet potatoes, which originated in tropical South America, are grown in the United States. Most "yams" sold in supermarkets are actually a variety of sweet potato. Incidentally, neither the yam nor the sweet potato is closely related to the potato
Legend has it that the first presidential turkey pardon was performed by Abraham Lincoln, whose son, Tad, had grown attached to the live turkey that had been presented to the White House. Successive presidents often followed suit, and it has been an annual tradition since 1947, when the National Turkey Federation presented President Harry S. Truman with a live turkey and two dressed turkeys for Thanksgiving. The live turkey receives an "official" presidential pardon and is sent to a Virginia park to live out its days.
In recent years, two live turkeys have been selected (including a "runner-up" in case the original turkey is unable to perform its duties), and the White House invites the public to name them before the pardon. In 2005, the lucky turkeys, Marshmallow and Yam, were sent to Disneyland to serve as honorary grand marshals in the annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
The Pilgrims' first feast had little to do with family or religion. It was a three-day harvest festival celebrating the abundance of food, and involved the entire community -- including the native Wampanoag tribe. Most of the activities associated with this event -- feasting, dancing, singing and playing games -- would have been considered inappropriate for a religious observance. In fact, they would not have even called it Thanksgiving. For the Pilgrims, a true day of "thanksgiving" would have been observed by prayer and fasting
Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879) was the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, the most popular ladies' magazine of its time, for 40 years (1837-1877). Hale spent many years lobbying congressmen, writing to five presidents, and publishing editorials in favor of establishing a national Day of Thanks. Her efforts were finally rewarded in 1863, when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Despite her many accomplishments as a writer, editor and champion of women's rights, Hale's most widely known work is the children's poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
While it is possible that the Pilgrims ate turkey, it is more likely that the centerpiece of their Thanksgiving feast was venison, accompanied by duck or goose. The meal may have also included seafood, such as clams, eel, cod or lobster. Potatoes, apples, pears and cranberries were not commonly available at that time, nor would they have had corn on the cob, as it would have been dried by that time of year. They may have made some sort of dessert with pumpkins, but since sugar and flour were scarce, and there were no ovens for baking, it would not have been pumpkin pie.
The "traditional" Thanksgiving meal most of us eat today is an invention of the Victorian era, composed of foods that were appropriate to celebrate the harvest when Thanksgiving was established as a national holiday in 1863.
The Pilgrims only wore black and white on Sundays or for formal or religious events. Their everyday clothing was a variety of earth tones -- green, beige, brown, gray -- and women often wore shades of red, blue or violet. Buckles did not come into fashion until decades later, and probably would not have been adopted by the pilgrims, who shunned frivolous orna****tion.
When they first arrived in North America, the Pilgrims were ill-prepared to fend for themselves, and even resorted to stealing from the native people and robbing graves to find food. Members of the Wampanoag tribe, including a man named Tisquantum, or "Squanto," showed them how to grow corn, beans and squash so they could survive on their own.
