Holiday Byte » Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Origins

emily — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:39:36 +0000

Thanksgiving Day in America is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November. The history of Thanksgiving dates back to 1621. The Pilgrims had settled into the New World, and after a very hard first year they finally were seeing a success fall harvest. Homes for the Pilgrims were built and they were working to continue building settlements in their new land. They had even been able to live in peace with their Indian neighbors.

To celebrate their plentiful harvest season, Governor William Bradford, declared a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared with both the pilgrims and Indians. This first official Thanksgiving was celebrated with a harvest feast and it continued for three days.

The next Thanksgiving celebration was not held until 1623, after a severe drought that was relieved with a long, steady rain. Governor Bradford decided to proclaim another Thanksgiving Day with both the Pilgrims and Indians.

Not until October of 1777 did all thirteen colonies join in a Thanksgiving celebration. Instead of a harvest celebration, it was seen as a patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga.

In 1789, George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving. However not all the colonies supported the idea and it did not become an official holiday until President Lincoln made it so in 1863.

Most people believe that the credit for the national day of Thanksgiving should go to Sara Josepha Hale, a magazine editor who campaigned for 40 years to get the day celebrated as a national holiday. She used editorials and letter writing to try to persuade governors and presidents to support her cause. Although her obsession took many years to come to fruition, she was very pleased when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as the Thanksgiving holiday.

After Lincoln, all other Presidents have supported the Thanksgiving holiday. In 1941, Thanksgiving was sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.

Today Thanksgiving Day is seen as a time to offer thanks and celebrate with family gatherings and large holiday meals.

Thanksgiving Origins is a post from: Holiday Byte

Thanksgiving Trivia

emily — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:38:59 +0000

Here is some Thanksgiving Trivia for you to enjoy

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 between the Wampanoag Indians and Colonists at Plymouth.

A female turkey is called a hen, while a male turkey is called a tom.

Benjamin Franklin lobbied to have a turkey chosen as our national bird instead of the eagle.

Only male turkeys gobble female turkeys peep.

The average turkey has between 3000 and 4000 feathers.

North Carolina produces the most turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner.

Wild turkeys can run at approximately 25 miles per hour and can fly at nearly 55 miles per hour.

Over 90% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

The piece of skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck is called a snood.

Thanksgiving Trivia is a post from: Holiday Byte

Thanksgiving Travel

emily — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:37:22 +0000

It’s estimated that almost 38 million people will travel more than 50 miles this thanksgiving holiday. The vast majority slightly over 30 million people will be traveling by car, an estimated 2 million people will travel by train, and over 5 million will travel by airplane.

The busiest days for travel are the Wednesday before thanksgiving and the Sunday after thanksgiving. For people who will be traveling through the airports those days be sure to give yourself plenty of extra time to get through security check points. Many airports predict that lines at checkpoints will run at 90 to 120 minutes during peak travel times.

Thanksgiving Travel is a post from: Holiday Byte

First Thanksgiving

emily — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:35:59 +0000

The Pilgrims left England in 1620 for the Virginia coast. However do to a storm they were thrown off course and landed in Plymouth. They decided to stay in this new location rather than navigate back to Virginia. Winters in the area proved much harsher than those in Virginia and the settlers were unprepared. They began to construct houses, but not enough were built before the onset of winter, and many pilgrims had to remain on the ship throughout the bitter winter. By the time spring had emerged nearly half of the pilgrims had died do to lack of food, proper housing, and medical conditions.

A Native American named Massasoit from the neighboring Wampanoag tribe visits the Plymouth colony and welcomes the new settlers. He speaks English that he learned from other fishermen who had visited the area. He introduces the tribe to Squanto another Native American who speaks English, and the chief of the Wampanoag tribe Chief Massasoit. The Chief welcomes the new settlers, they exchange gifts and a treaty of friendship is made.

In 1621 the Mayflower sails back to England and all of the Pilgrims stay in the new land. The Wampanoag teach the colonists about hunting fishing and farming the land. Later in the year Massasoit and Squanto are captured by another Native American Tribe the Narraganset. The pilgrims send a rescue party and are able to retrieve Squanto and Massasoit.

In the fall of 1621 the colonists have their first harvest. To celebrate Governor William Bradford decides to celebrate and give thanks with a three day feast. The 52 colonists and 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe take part in the celebration. This was the first Thanksgiving celebration.

First Thanksgiving is a post from: Holiday Byte

Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade

emily — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:35:23 +0000

On November 25th 2005 at 9am EST Macy’s will hold its annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade starts on 77th street and Central Park West and ends on 7th Avenue and 34th street. The parade can be viewed from different location throughout Manhattan but some of the best spots are 70th street Columbus circle to 65th Street, anywhere on Columbus circle, Broadway between 59th and 38th streets, and 34th street anywhere between Broadway and 7th Avenue.

If you are interested in viewing the parade you should plan on staking out a spot somewhere between 5 and 6am in the morning. Be sure to wear lots of layers and warm clothing as it can quite often be cold. You will be able to purchase bagels, hot chocolate, and coffee from nearby street vendors. If you are viewing from the start of the parade route it will take about 90 minutes to see the entire parade, if you are at the end of the route it will take almost 3 hours to see the whole parade. Television coverage is scheduled to begin at 9 AM. For a sneak peek at some of the balloons as they get blown up visit Central Park near the Museum of Natural History the day before between 3pm and 10pm.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was started in 1924 as a thank you gift to the residents of Manhattan from Macy’s. The first helium balloon appeared in 1929. The first Mickey Mouse Balloon appeared in the parade in 1934. During 1942 through 1944 the parade wasn’t held and all of the balloons were donated to the war effort, as rubber was a rare and valuable commodity at the time. In 1945 the parade returned and was more amazing and spectacular than any of the parades before. This was the first parade to be televised and had over 2 million spectators. !957 marked one of the parades unusual accidents, the Popeye balloon filled with water from a rain shower earlier that morning, during the parade the extra weight caused the balloon to veer off course and bump into a nearby building. The collision caused the water to dump out all over parade bystanders. In 1958 there was a helium shortage so the balloons were suspended from construction cranes and filled with air. In the early 1960′s some of the older and more popular balloons were introduced including underdog, Bullwinkle, snoopy and Kermit the frog. 1969 marked the first year that parade floats were included in the parade. Parade floats are generally built on the chassis of an old school bus. In 1976 the parade was an extravaganza that the country had never seen before. It had a battalion of minuteman to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of the United States independence. Earlier that year Macy’s started the Fourth of July fireworks display, a tradition that is carried on till this day. Today over 2.5 million people line the 2 and half mile parade route and another 40 million viewers watch the parade on TV. In addition to the floats and balloons, the parade now has broadways shows, and other popular musical acts performing in the parade. It’s been a long running tradition to end the parade with Santa’s sleigh every year.

Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade is a post from: Holiday Byte