The forgotten holiday
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Lauri Anne Jacobs
Thanksgiving is from a 1621 harvest feast shared by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people. After a successful corn harvest, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford organized a three-day feast to celebrate. The Wampanoag people were invited and participated by contributing deer for the feast. This event is traditionally considered the “first Thanksgiving.” The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed be President George Washington. The holiday became a national observance after President Abraham Lincoln declared it in 1863 to help unite the nation during the Civil War. Congress officially established the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day in 1941.
Thanksgiving represents such an important time in history, but now it is often overlooked, and its importance forgotten. Stores start putting out Christmas merchandise at the end of October. We go straight to Christmas, overlooking Thanksgiving. I am old fashioned I guess, because I do not believe in decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Christmas has become so commercialized now, and Thanksgiving is a time of food and family, and it is hard to commercialize that. Commercial influences push for early shopping, and the emphasis on gifts takes precedence over everything. Society has a herd mentality on everything and is easily swayed. When one person starts doing something, everyone else goes along because they do not want to be left out. That is why you see so many Christmas trees up now. Everybody is doing it, so it is acceptable.
Thanksgiving is my one of my favorite holidays because it is all about gathering with family. I love the fact that it is not commercialized. We spend the day eating good food with loved ones, and it does not get any better than that. While we eat turkey at our meal now, the early feasts included deer, fowl, and other wild game, but historical accounts do not mention turkey. Over the 19th century Thanksgiving-style celebrations grew, with turkey becoming a popular choice. It was abundant, and large enough to feed an entire family. Sarah Josephine Hale played a role in having the turkey as the centerpiece. She was the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book and heavily promoted Thanksgiving. She wrote about an ideal feast centered around a roast turkey. Hale’s advocacy, combined with the growing sense of nostalgia for colonial times, led President Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday, solidifying the turkey’s role in the celebration.
Thanksgiving has been an annual celebration of the blessings from God. As we enter the era that we live and are witnessing the demise of the family unit, so are we witnessing the decline in the celebration of the Thanksgiving dinner that brought families together to celebrate the goodness of God. With Thanksgiving coming up, let us be mindful of our blessings and give thanks to the One from whom all blessings flow.
