Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! I’m celebrating by being at work in London and I don’t know what I’m having for dinner yet. I will watch an episode of CSI on TV (big surprise) and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Special, which I have on DVD.

The below is for anyone reading this who is not from America and who is not familiar with the holiday of Thanksgiving. (I was surprised by the number of people in my office in London who thought Thanksgiving was a Christmas-related holiday in the States ; and that no similar holiday exists in the UK – the only holiday they have that is a big family gathering, has as much hoop-la, is Christmas.) And, if you are American and just want a refresh in history, keep reading.

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Thanksgiving Day is primarily a North American secular holiday and traditionally is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. Most people celebrate by gathering at home with family or friends for a holiday feast. Though the holiday's origins can be traced to harvest festivals which have been celebrated in many cultures since ancient times, the American holiday has religious undertones related to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the brutal winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Thanksgiving Day commemorates the celebration held in 1621 after the first harvest by the Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims who traveled from England on the Mayflower landed on December 21, 1620. The harsh winter claimed about half their number. The local Wampanoag Indians, who were friendly to the newcomers, furnished seeds and taught them how to plant corn. The corn and the crops grown from the seeds they had brought with them produced a bountiful harvest. Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day to celebrate the harvest. The celebration brought together the colonists and the Indians, who were led by their chief Massasoit. The colonists provided water fowl, wild turkey and fish; the Indians contributed deer to the feast.

The tradition of observing a day of thanksgiving spread throughout the colonies, but was celebrated on different dates. In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Day in honor of the new United States Constitution. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. U.S. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States (not necessarily the last Thursday in November).

The family and friends present at a Thanksgiving table are not expected to give gifts to each other and the point of the meal is to reflect upon and be thankful for the things that have passed over the last year. While most hosts will say a short prayer before the start of the meal, this is not obligatory and there is no overt religious significance to the holiday.

Just as important as the food associated with the day are two other traditions – watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (caution - sound on website!) and watching the Detroit Lions play football (U.S. version). Also, the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.S. as it ‘starts’ the Christmas shopping season.

Food :
The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States, and Canada is a large meal, generally centered around a large roasted turkey. The majority of the dishes in the traditional American version of Thanksgiving Dinner are made from foods native to the New World.

Because turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called Turkey Day. The average cost of an entire Thanksgiving feast was approximately $41 in 2007. It has been estimated that 16-20 percent of annual turkey consumption in the US is attributed to Thanksgiving and as much as 30 percent of consumption occurs during the combined Thanksgiving to New Year holiday season.

Most Thanksgiving turkeys are stuffed with a cereal-based stuffing and roasted. Sage is the traditional herb added to the stuffing (also called dressing), along with chopped celery, carrots, and onions. Deep-fried turkey is rising in popularity. One or several of the following may be added to the dressing/stuffing: oysters, apples, chestnuts, raisins, celery and/or other vegetables, sausages or the turkey's giblets.

Many Americans would say the Thanksgiving dinner is "incomplete" without cranberry sauce, stuffing or dressing, and gravy. Other commonly served dishes include sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls or biscuits, and a Waldorf salad. For dessert, various pies are often served, particularly apple pie, mincemeat pie, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. Other nontraditional dishes reflect the region or cultural background of those who have come together for the meal.

The use of the turkey in the USA for Thanksgiving precedes Lincoln's nationalization of the holiday in 1863. Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no "Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day", but turkey was uncommon as Thanksgiving fare until after 1800. By 1857 turkey had become part of the traditional dinner in New England.

Fun facts :
-- The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.
-- The state of New York officially made Thanksgiving Day an annual custom in 1817.
-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in the year 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the economy of the state.
-- Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century (from 1827-1863!), was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
-- Of those Americans traveling for Thanksgiving in 2007, approximately 80 percent (31.2 million) were expected to go by motor vehicle, 12.1 percent (4.7 million) by airplane and the rest (2.8 million) by train, bus or other mode of transportation.
-- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, with a planned production total of 49 million in 2008.
-- Just six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana—will probably produce two-thirds of the estimated 271 million birds that will be raised in the U.S. in one year.
-- The average weight of turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.
-- The cranberry is one of only three fruits—the others are the blueberry and the Concord grape—that are entirely native to North American soil, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.
-- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust. [what is it with people and the Guinness Book or World Records? I mean really, isn’t there a better use of people’s time and resources?]
-- Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade—to signify the launch of the Christmas shopping season—the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, some 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.
-- Tony Sarg, a children's book illustrator and puppeteer, designed the first giant hot air balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. He later created the elaborate mechanically animated window displays that grace the façade of the New York store from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
-- Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.
-- The first time the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving Day was in 1934, when they hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit stadium, in front of 26,000 fans. The NBC radio network broadcast the game on 94 stations across the country--the first national Thanksgiving football broadcast. Since that time, the Lions have played a game every Thanksgiving (except between 1939 and 1944); in 1956, fans watched the game on television for the first time.

Above information taken from Wikipedia (twice), The Holiday Spot, American Holiday Calendar, and History.