Thanksgiving Festivities Little Known Beginnings

We all know the story about the pilgrims, the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, and the first Thanksgiving dinner in their new country – America.  But, how do we know about their landing on December 11, 1620 and how did it develop into the mega-holiday it is today, complete with parades, football games, waist-expanding meals, commercial opportunities and more?  Does Thanksgiving even reflect the original holiday or some other historical moment in our nation’s history?

Turkeys Weren’t Always on the Menu

While the first Thanksgiving celebrations included musket-shooting competitions – originally staged with the help of Capt. Miles Standish – foot races, and expansive meals, some traditions that we are accustomed to today didn’t find their way into the Thanksgiving tradition until much later.  For example, today we might focus on turkey as must-have part of the traditional holiday meal; but the Pilgrims actually were content to feast on just about any bird they could find.  And pumpkin pie was also a later addition to the table.  The pilgrims, in fact, were short on flour after their journey and it would be years before they grew enough wheat to make bread.  So, there was no bread (except for some boiling of corn that they pounded into an almost bread-like cake, which they would fry in deer fat), nor piecrust for pumpkin pie.  What pumpkin they did grow and harvest was eaten boiled. 

Thanksgiving As Military Salute

Despite the Pilgrims’ early celebration, it wasn’t until 1777 that all of the American colonies had a common Thanksgiving celebration.  However, that was more a salute to a military victory over the British and it was only a one-time festival.  Twelve years later, President George Washington declared a national day of Thanksgiving.  But, old George ran into problems trying to get the rambunctious states to agree on the celebration.  Some of them thought the Pilgrims’ achievements weren’t worth making a big deal about.  Even Thomas Jefferson didn’t think much of the idea of a national holiday and as president declined to even consider continuing the notion of a day of thanks.

Women’s Magazine Steps In With Lincoln’s Help

Thanksgiving would have then remained an unknown and uncelebrated holiday except for the efforts of the publisher of a women’s magazine.

In 1827, Sara Josepha Hale, the editor of Boston’s Ladies Magazine, began advocating for the national holiday and urged her readers to contact their local politicos.  Over a span of 40 years, Hale continued to write to anyone and everyone about the idea of a national holiday that would take place on the last Thursday in November.  Her view began to make significant progress, however, only when the Civil War erupted.  When the battle of Gettysburg ended – and the country saw the devastation of the one of the bloodiest battles of the war – Mrs. Hale’s effort found an advocate in no less than President Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln proclaimed Oct. 3, 1863 as the official day for the nation to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Shifting Date for Holiday

While Thanksgiving has been celebrated annually since 1863, there was one more hitch in the holiday’s get-along.  In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered the holiday moved back a week to the third Thursday in November.  His action was a nod to many businesspeople that wanted more shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The result was a happy band of merchants, but a very unhappy rest of the country.  Rejecting the president’s order, many people continued to celebrate on the traditional day.  By 1941, President Roosevelt had to admit his error and changed the holiday back to the last Thursday of the month.  Not to be ignored merchants began offering more and more sales and discounts, thus getting the commercialization of Thanksgiving off to a fast start and insuring the time between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays is a buying bonanza.

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