Thanksgiving Day, annual national holiday in the United States celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people, according to britannica.com. The American holiday is particularly rich in legend and symbolism, and the traditional fare of the Thanksgiving meal typically includes turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. With respect to vehicular travel, the holiday is often the busiest of the year, as family members gather with one another.
Thanksgiving Day did not become an official holiday until Northerners dominated the federal government. While sectional tensions prevailed in the mid-19th century, the editor of the popular magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, Sarah Josepha Hale, campaigned for a national Thanksgiving Day to promote unity. She finally won the support of President Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, during the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.
The holiday was annually proclaimed by every president thereafter, and the date chosen, with few exceptions, was the last Thursday in November. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, attempted to extend the Christmas shopping season, which generally begins with the Thanksgiving holiday, and to boost the economy by moving the date back a week, to the third week in November. But not all states complied, and, after a joint resolution of Congress in 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1942 designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
A record 80 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving weekend, the majority (a record 71.7 million) by car. Millions more are expected to fly, including a record-breaking 3 million on Sunday alone.
Over 80% of Americans will eat turkey, requiring an estimated 46 million birds to supply the feast. A recent survey suggests mashed potatoes, bread rolls, and pie will be standard fare; macaroni and cheese consumption is highly regionalized. A holiday meal for 10 will cost $58 on average, down 5% from last year and the lowest inflation-adjusted cost in the 39 years of the farmers' survey.
Meteorologists are predicting a relatively wet, chilly Thanksgiving for half the country, with snow in the Midwest and rain on the East Coast. A cold front will impact close to 200 million Americans by Saturday. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will take place rain or shine this morning in New York City (8:30 am ET, NBC).
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