You probably knew much of this story many years ago, but over time perhaps your memory has faded a bit. So let’s do a quick recap of the story of Thanksgiving.
On September 6, 1620, one hundred and two Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower. They landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in December, 1620. In the first few months they were in America, fully half of their population died.
But the advent of warmer weather strengthened those who were left, and that first autumn provided them a bounteous crop harvest, thanks to help from the local Indians.
To celebrate their good fortune, their leader, Governor William Bradford, decided to throw a feast of thanksgiving. He invited the local Wampanoag Indians to the feast, and ninety of them came, led by their king, Massasoit. Only four women were in attendance, by the way, and all of them were Pilgrim wives.
Plymouth, Massachusetts was the site of the celebration, and the party lasted three full days. We don’t know the exact dates, but we do know that this first Thanksgiving was held sometime in the fall of 1621, probably October.
What was served at that first Thanksgiving? Again, we don’t know for sure, but tradition has it that turkey, venison, fish, corn, boiled pumpkin, and fruits and berries were the main items on the menu. There was no bread, and no milk. One account says that a group of Indian hunters took to the woods and returned with five deer, and that another group of Indian fishermen provided cod and bass for the feast.
Besides eating, there was much praying, and games, and music (well, drums anyway), and demonstrations of skill. The Indians showed what they could do with bows and arrows, and the Pilgrims responded with a musket demonstration. (Kind of a preview of things to come…)
President George Washington twice declared days of thanksgiving, first in 1789, then again in 1795. Some states also celebrated the holiday. In 1817, New York made Thanksgiving an annual holiday.
Other presidents declared national days of thanksgiving rather randomly, and in 1827, a magazine writer named Sarah Hale began a campaign to have Thanksgiving declared an official national holiday.
In 1844, Lydia Marie Child, a children’s author, wrote Flowers for Children, Volume II. This otherwise long-forgotten book had a poem called A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day. Never heard of it? Well, it begins,
Over the river, and through the wood,
to Grandfather’s house we go;
the horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.
I won’t make you read the other eleven verses.
Meanwhile, Sarah Hale’s campaign for a national day of thanksgivng finally paid off. In October, 1863, President Lincoln formally proclaimed that the last Thursday of November every year would officially be Thanksgiving day. And the last Thursday in November remained as Thanksgiving for the next 78 years.
But in 1939, Franklin Roosevelt switched Thanksgiving to the next-to-last Thursday of November. The reason for the change is interesting. The Christmas shopping season traditionally began the week after Thanksgiving. And by moving Thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the next-to-last Thursday, Roosevelt added one extra week of Christmas shopping – one more week for depression-strapped merchants to sell Christmas goods.
In 1941, Congress declared Thanksgiving to be the fourth Thursday in November, and thus it is today.
Synonymous with Thanksgiving is the Macy’s Parade. In 1924, Macy’s Department Store in New York City held a big Christmas parade on Thanksgiving day. The featured “performers” in that first parade were animals from the New York City Central Park Zoo.
That first parade was so popular that it became an annual event. Helium balloons were added to the parade in 1927, but they all exploded when they reached a certain height! The problem was corrected in 1928, and in 1934, Walt Disney’s characters began appearing as balloons.
The parade has been held every year since 1927, except for 1942-1944, when war shortages of rubber and helium caused Macy’s to skip the parade those years.
This year, there will be a big change in the parade. For 82 years, the Macy’s parade marched down Broadway. But this year, the route has been changed to 7th Avenue. Organizers say the new route will provide better viewing for spectators.
For many people, Thanksgiving is a special holiday for many reasons. The chance to offer thanks, the opportunity to see distant family – and, for many of us, a four-day weekend!
Dan Hughes and his wife Kathy own the Kaleidoscope Art Studio in Rantoul, which offers classes and self-directed workshops for both children and adults. Please visit their web site athttp://room200.com. Dan is a retired general manager of the Parkland College radio station and was an instructor in broadcasting. He wrote, produced, and hosted The Parkland Challenge, a popular local television quiz program. He has written books and he does weekly podcasts (internet radio shows). Email Dan at danhughes@juno.com, and check out his web site at http://danhughes.net.