You guys are like actual aliens!
Do you observe Thanksgiving?
- Thread starter CleverNickName
- Start date
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Is the movie A Christmas Story?
Besides, I thought the traditional Christmas feast protein was a goose. Seems odd that that's evolved for the UK given that turkeys aren't native to Europe ... but then again I guess Christmas traditions are pretty modern.
My mother's family's traditional Christmas protein was ham (German & French-Canadian roots). My wife's family does chicken or roast beef. We do turkey, chicken, beef, sometimes seafood, occasionally tacos ... no fixed menu.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
If we're going out, it's a holiday season blockbuster. If we stay in, we rent.
We do, of course, go with a Christmas classic on Christmas Eve, and watch Die Hard.
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
One of the best, timeless Christmas classics.
Benjamin Olson
Hero
The comical thing about anti-colonial backlash aimed at Thanksgiving is that the annual holiday in the United States was actually created to give thanks for the Union winning the Battle of Gettysburg (something I for one am still thankful for) and generally to promote the idea that the future was hopeful as 1863 came to a close. And even that is just the political circumstances that allowed activist Sarah Joshepa Hale to finally succeed at her effort to have the disparate local thanksgiving harvest festivals in New England (celebrations which, despite geography, had nothing to do with Pilgrims) made into a national holiday (with her preferred menu!).
The "First Thanksgiving" with Pilgrims and Wampanoag was an actual event, but it almost certainly took place earlier in the season (during the harvest!) and only became conflated with the annual holiday later. I would presume the conflation happened in part to sell the celebration in the reintegrated Southern states and in part because of general mythmaking and desire to make a newish holiday look like an ancient tradition, but it seems it was mostly the standardization of grade school curricula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that really put the Pilgrims in the spotlight. Partly this was part of the assimilationist and national pride inculcating agenda of those curricula, but in defense of the school teachers I'll say that a simple story about sharing and survival from early in the country's history makes pedigogical sense for elementary students, whereas trying to explain to students why they should be thankful for Union war victories (long before they study the Civil War) does not.
The "First Thanksgiving" with Pilgrims and Wampanoag was an actual event, but it almost certainly took place earlier in the season (during the harvest!) and only became conflated with the annual holiday later. I would presume the conflation happened in part to sell the celebration in the reintegrated Southern states and in part because of general mythmaking and desire to make a newish holiday look like an ancient tradition, but it seems it was mostly the standardization of grade school curricula in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that really put the Pilgrims in the spotlight. Partly this was part of the assimilationist and national pride inculcating agenda of those curricula, but in defense of the school teachers I'll say that a simple story about sharing and survival from early in the country's history makes pedigogical sense for elementary students, whereas trying to explain to students why they should be thankful for Union war victories (long before they study the Civil War) does not.
gnarlygninja
Hero
It varies a lot depending one where you go. In my family (rural South) there was always a ham involved, one half of my mom's family would usually also have venison (deer season is in November). There is a lot of overlap between the side dishes and desserts though.
I have started to embrace the Chinese takeout dinner though, since as previously mentioned I live very far from my family and don't feel like doing stuff.
No one is EVER banned. (Some have been asked to bring ice, though.)Yours is once place I'd worried about getting banned from due to reading about your cooking skills and the menu
I’m a firm believer that everyone has a dish they can cook well. It’s just that some haven’t quite figured out which one it is, yet. And a lot of people give up on that hunt.
At past gatherings, we’ve had 2+ people bringing mac (or other pasta) & cheese. One of my cousin’s wife makes a fantastic banana pudding. Another one- generally considered a TERRIBLE cook overall- nonetheless makes some excellent creole sides.
Gradine
🏳️⚧️ (she/her) 🇵🇸
The amusing thing is that this actually happens in A Christmas Story. If you haven't seen it, the traditional dinner is ruined so the family end up going out for Chinese (complete with a horrific racist joke about the staff trying to sing Deck the Halls)
It’s such a thing that it was lampooned in A Christmas Story.
(Yes, technically that’s a racist stereotype. But you’ll note the owner is trying to help his employees get it right. And a lot of Asians view it less as racist and more of a snapshot from an earlier time & place.)
To be clear, it’s not a UNIVERSAL or even COMMON thing- I’ve never done it myself, for instance- but it’s definitely infamous.
