does sound great; and to mitigate some of what could be seen as cynicism in my above post, it is also quite nice to have a national holiday where some people get a four day weekend...and make extra efforts to get together with their loved ones and often there is a true spirit of charity and joyous giving that goes along with it; and it's an important family tradition for a lot of people...
and i think it's fair to say that the original spirit of the original feasts, before the instutionalized racism and land-grabs, and genocide and casual destruction of natural resources of many animal species...
uhhh, before that...i think the original Pilgrim familes in jeopardy were truly very grateful and the harvest celebration between them was probably quite profound...
the fashions were layered and cool; the stones were on the legendarly 1792 tour within a century or so...(only a few minutes in lestat, or keith, time.)
the airports and roads will be jammed etc...as people make extra effort, sort of like Christmas time, to get together with friends and family and so on...
but aside from my opines and observations this source is kinda fun in an explanatory way for my dear UK and Euro friends who were kind enough to inquire:
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by Bill Petro
HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING
The origin of Thanksgiving Day has been attributed to a harvest feast held by the Plymouth Colony, although such celebrations date from ancient times. In 1621, Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony proclaimed a day of "thanksgiving" and prayer to celebrate the Pilgrims' first harvest in America. The picture you usually see of a few Native American men joining the Pilgrims at the feast is a bit inaccurate however. From original settler Edward Winslow in a letter to a friend in 1621 we know that some 90 men accompanied the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit to visit at Plymouth for three days of fish, foul, and venison. But of the roughly 100 English settlers who had spent their first year on the Massachusetts coast, about half had died by this time. This would have left about half the 52 survivors as English men. So the Native men outnumbered the Pilgrim men by over three to one!
The idea of a day set apart to celebrate the completion of the harvest and to render homage to the Spirit who caused the fruits and crops to grow is both ancient and universal. The practice of designating a day of thanksgiving for specific spiritual or secular benefits has been followed in many countries.
One of the first general proclamations was made in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1676. President George Washington in 1789 issued the first presidential thanksgiving proclamation in honor of the new constitution. During the 19th century an increasing number of states observed the day annually, each appointing its own day. President Abraham Lincoln, on October 3, 1863, by presidential proclamation appointed the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day, due to the unremitting efforts of Sarah J. Hale, editor of Godey's Lady's Book.
Each succeeding president made similar proclamations until Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1939 appointed the third Thursday of November, primarily to allow a special holiday weekend for national public holiday. This was changed two years later by both congress and the President to the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving Day remains a day when many express gratitude to God for blessings and celebrate material bounty.
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
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www.billpetro.com]
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