Mary Had a Little Lamb... for Thanksgiving.

Sara Hale, author of the famous poem, Mary Had a Little Lamb and one the nation's first woman magazine editors played an instrumental part in making Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Ms. Hale worked tirelessly writing letters to the Presidents because she thought it was a good idea to have a holiday where all Americans could collectively give thanks. Her passionate letters and essays finally caught up with Abraham Lincoln. With a nation divided Lincoln thought the idea was a good one and thus declared the last Thursday in November, as Thanksgiving.

But FDR would later try to move this date up, in an effort to boost the economy and get an extra week for holiday shopping. For one year, 1940, this caused much confusion, so much that America actually had two Thanksgivings that year. Some states recognized FDR's decree, while others still followed Lincoln's last Thursday declaration. Congress eventually agreed to make it the 4th Thursday of the month instead of the last Thursday. You can read about the whole story here.

The first Thanksgiving, the one celebrated in 1621 by Plymouth (or Plimouth) colonists and Wampanoag Indians, didn't have lamb on the menu... but it may have had turkey.

There are only two items historians know for sure were on the menu; venison and wild fowl. These are mentioned in primary sources.

Below is one of the more detailed descriptions of the "First Thanksgiving". It comes from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621, by Edward Winslow:

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of
our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

For a full list off what might have been on the menu, including eel and lobster, and what was definitely not on the menu... click the link below: http://www.history.com/minisites/thanksgiving/viewPage?pageId=873

Did You Know That...

According to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.The cranberry is one of only three fruits that are entirely native to North American soil.

Without cheating, take a guess at what the other two are...

Happy Holidays.

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FDR and Two Thanksgivings

Two Thanksgivings; a dream to some and a nightmare for others, depending on whether you're eating or cooking. In 1939 there really was two Thanksgivings.

At the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency, Thanksgiving was not a fixed holiday. At that time it was up to the President to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation to announce what date the holiday would be. Most presidents would follow suit and announce the holiday as the last Thursday in November.

Many believe that the Pilgrims chose this day, but that is not the case. It was 1863 when President Lincoln began the observance of Thanksgiving in November, making it a national holiday. Lincoln's decision came in the middle of the Civil War and seems to be an awkward attempt to bring faith back into a war-torn country. Below is an excerpt from Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation:

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and
also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

Here's the full text of Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, from October 3, 1963.

Like all the presidents that preceded him, FDR kept tradition until he felt other circumstances would supersede tradition. What circumstances you ask? How about the economy and the Great Depression.

In 1933, FDR's first year in office, Thanksgiving fell on November 30th, the last day of the month and the 5th Thursday. Because statistics showed that most people did not do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving businesses feared a loss in revenue. November 30th left only 24 shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Many business owners asked President Roosevelt to make Thanksgiving one week earlier. The requests were ignored until 1939, when Thanksgiving was once again due to fall on the last day of the month. This time FDR listened to the requests and moved Thanksgiving to November 23rd and not November 30th.

This simple date change seemed easy enough, but in actuality proved to be a short-sighted blunder. Thousands of letters poured into the White House from small businesses, calendar manufacturers and universities claiming that the date change will actually harm and/or disrupt their business or routine.

While some retailers were pleased to have the extra week of holiday shopping, smaller businesses claimed they'd lose business to the larger stores. Calendar makers had already printed some of their calendars years in advance making their future supplies now obsolete and out of date. Some Americans were simply upset with Roosevelt's attempt to alter the long-standing tradition just to help businesses make more money. And finally, schools with annual Thanksgiving day football games were now forced to reschedule, and so on and so forth.

Some of these letters can be found at the FDR Library: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/thanksg.html

With increased opposition, some states refused to honor the new date and kept November 30th as Thanksgiving day. Depending on which state you were from determined which date Thanksgiving was observed. So those living in Connecticut would not have the same day off as those living in New York and thus, family and friends were unable to celebrate the holiday together.

A stubborn FDR continued to observe Thanksgiving on the second to last Thursday of November for two more years/ The amount of public outrage eventually convinced Congress to pass a law on December 26, 1941, declaring Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November every year.

For more Thanksgiving history, visit this timeline: http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/thanksgiving/timeline/1541.html

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