Paul Farquhar
Legend
But why choose that particular day?
Do you observe Thanksgiving?
- Thread starter CleverNickName
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Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
It was part of the economic stimulus plan President Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt introduced to turn the Great Depression around. It is designed to soup up the Christmas spending season, and has worked for nearly 100 years to do so.
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Didn't Roosevelt want it even earlier than it is now? (I want to say it didn't particularly bump sales when he changed it?) I thought Lincoln picked a late Thursday in November? (And then there was an issue when it fell on the last day of the month iirc).
Parmandur
Book-Friend, he/him
OK, now I went down the rabbit hole.
November 25, 1783 was the day when British forces left New York City, and was widely celebrated as a holiday, Evacuation Day, for nearly 100 years, along with earlier Calvinist originating Thanksgiving celebrations celebrated at the state level in late Novrmber usually. Lincoln solidified combining those two on the Federal level, and Roosevelt tried to change the date to thw third Thursday for commercial purposes and failed ("Franksgiving").
So, the date seems to be largely "forget the British army, neiner neiner"
Well, we had our Thanksgiving meal today; it was a snowy day and a good day to stay in. It was just the basics: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, peas, and corn, but that was good enough for us.
Afterwards, when the leftovers were in the fridge and the dishes were in the dishwasher, my wife asked about initiating her favorite "post dinner" Thanksgiving ritual, and I immediately mentally went to Mount Crumpet, thinking "There must be a way to stop A Christmas Story - but how?"
But nah, let her have her fun. My two sons are upstairs, dutifully watching it with her on DVD in the living room. I, having done so with her for at least 30 of our 41 years of marriage, would rather not sit through a 31st viewing.
Johnathan
Afterwards, when the leftovers were in the fridge and the dishes were in the dishwasher, my wife asked about initiating her favorite "post dinner" Thanksgiving ritual, and I immediately mentally went to Mount Crumpet, thinking "There must be a way to stop A Christmas Story - but how?"
But nah, let her have her fun. My two sons are upstairs, dutifully watching it with her on DVD in the living room. I, having done so with her for at least 30 of our 41 years of marriage, would rather not sit through a 31st viewing.
Johnathan
My favorite food for Thanksgiving is sauerkraut, which we always had as part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal. For years after my mother died, we did not celebrate Thanksgiving. This year my wife and I made sauerkraut using my mother’s recipe, which she wrote down along with a bunch of her other great recipes. It was delicious, just like my mother made it. We are going to make it often now.
One personal tradition that my wife taught me over twenty years ago was to not eat any mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner, We both love mashed potatoes, but they are the absolutely worst part of Thanksgiving dinner, even though they are delicious. Everything else tastes so much better, so why eat filling mashed potatoes and limit yourself on the other food?
One personal tradition that my wife taught me over twenty years ago was to not eat any mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner, We both love mashed potatoes, but they are the absolutely worst part of Thanksgiving dinner, even though they are delicious. Everything else tastes so much better, so why eat filling mashed potatoes and limit yourself on the other food?
MarkB
Legend
That's why we go with roast potatoes for UK Christmas turkey dinner.
I would eat roast potatoes if they were included in Thanksgiving dinner.
