About Thanksgiving Feast ThanksGiving Celeberation in US Canada

kasm · November 24, 2005

- Thanksgiving is traditionally celebrated with a large dinner shared among friends and family. In both Canada and the United States,

- It is an important family gathering, and people often travel long distances to be with relations for the celebration.

- The Thanksgiving holiday is often a "four-day weekend" in the United States, in which Americans are given the relevant Thursday and Friday off.

- Thanksgiving is usually celebrated almost entirely at home.

- In Canada, it is a three-day weekend, as Thanksgiving is observed on the second Monday of October every year.

- It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious

- Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims.

- The Pilgrims sailed to USA aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect).

- The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620.

- Their first winter was devastating. and in the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower.

- The harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year.

- The celeberation lasted three days and is now known as the first Thanksgiving.

- The only two items that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild fowl.

- It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, the term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.

- The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread for shortage of flour. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop.

- The first feast wasn't repeated, so it wasn't the beginning of a tradition.

- This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year.

- But in 1623, during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, The Governor proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends.

- It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed.

- On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving.

- This thanksgiving celebration probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant partly to be in recognition of the colonists' recent victory over the "heathen natives,"

- In October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair.

- George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789.

And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.

- In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

- Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times,

- In 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.

- In 1947, the first National Thanksgiving Turkey was presented to President Harry Truman.

- Since at least the 1930s, the Christmas shopping season in the U.S. traditionally begins when Thanksgiving ends.

- This year marks the 58th anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation.

- The 2005 National Thanksgiving Turkey and its alternate are from Henning, Minnesota . After the presentation, the National Turkey and its alternate will be taken to Disneyland Resort and Theme Park in Anaheim, California and will serve as honorary Grand Marshals for Disneylands annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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