Thanksgiving Day

Is there is any other so special national day for the Americans? 

Thanksgiving is one of the most important events for the American people. For many of them, this holiday is even more important than Christmas in the United States, but do we know why? How this day has become an icon for the American culture? Let's go deeply into the origins of  the Thanksgiving day.

This pagan event can be traced back to the 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the religious refugees from England, known popularly as the Pilgrims, invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season.
The previous year's harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620, half of the pilgrims had starved to death.
Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash, catch fish, and collect seafood.
There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving, but it's clear that turkey was not on the menu. The three-day feast included goose, lobster, cod and deer.


According to the origins, we can, therefore, undestand the strong feeling it produces. If we take into account the great variety of cultures and origins living together in the United States, we will realise about the fact that, although Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time when Americans reflect on what they are thankful for, not eveyone has the same strong sense of gratitude. On the one hand, despite of the pagan origins we have already described, the vast majority of the society consider it related to God in some way. But besides of that, not every American is precisely pleased of the historical meaning it implies, they are not highly satistied of the American Conquest and the extinction of the native american peoples.
Nevertheless, the festivity has, with no doubts, a wide impact on the American society and most people celebrate it, nowadays, with pies, parades and presidential pardons. There is no any fixed day for that celebration but it takes place on the fourth Thursday in November.

Here are some of the common traditions associated with "Turkey Day.":

Travel

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is spending time with family. Many people live far from family members and travel long distances by car, train, or plane to be with their loved ones. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year!

The Feast

Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal. Popular pie flavors are pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and apple.

Vegetarian Foods

Some families choose to serve vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners instead of a stuffed turkey. Some people eat vegetarian turkey, which is made out of tofu. Others prefer to eat squash, salads, or other fruit and vegetable dishes.

 

The Wishbone

Some families include breaking the turkey's wishbone as part of their celebration. The wishbone is found attached to the breast meat in the turkey's chest. After the meat has been removed and the wishbone has had a chance to become dry and brittle, two people each take one end of the bone, make a wish, and pull. Whoever ends up with the larger part of the bone gets their wish!

 

The Turkey Pardon

Each year at Thanksgiving, the President of the United States receives a gift of a live turkey (along with an alternate in case something happens to the official turkey). At a White House ceremony, the president traditionally "pardons" the National Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate turkeys, allowing them to live out the rest of their lives on a farm.

 

Helping Others

Many generous folks use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to help the less fortunate. Some people volunteer to serve food at homeless shelters on Thanksgiving Day and others donate to shelters or participate in canned food drives.

 

TV

Television also plays a part in Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families watch the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade includes marching bands, floats, songs and performances from Broadway musicals, and giant helium-filled balloons! People may also enjoy televised football games.

 

After the Meal

After the feast families often do additional activities. Some like to take walks after eating such a large meal. Some people take naps. Others sit down together to play board or card games together.

Making reference to Thanksgiving Day, we cannot forget to mention the Black Friday. It makes reference to the day after Thanksgiving. It has been regarded as the beginning of the country's Christmas shopping season since 1952.Since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, many schools and some businesses would be closed the day after.

Stores, however, were not closed, causing a spike in traffic and crowds in Philadelphia's Center City. Police officers in the city started calling the day Black Friday, as they had to work 12-hour shifts to mitigate the madness. From there, the media got a hold of it, and the name was popularized.

Does the UK care about Thanksgiving?

Yes, sort of in a commercial sense, although we maybe don't realise it. Black Friday first arrived in the UK five years ago when Amazon thought it would try its luck bringing the American shopping sensation to a new market.

Why Thanksgiving would never work in Britain?

American expat Sally Peck wrote last year on her favorite (sic) holiday:

"Thanksgiving would never work in Britain, because it is the day that self-deprecation forgot. Is it a holiday commemorating the Anglo-Saxon invasion of a country that already belonged to someone else? Yes. And what must have been an incredibly awkward dinner party between invader and invadee? Right again."

Are you a native American living abroad?

Have a look on the following link. Surprisingly, you will find some places to enjoy Thanksgiving also in Europe: https://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/where-to-celebrate-thanksgiving-in-europe.html