Thanksgiving History Lesson :)

AwesomelyAmber

I'm working today and a customer just came in to ask some questions about her budget payments. This woman is FABULOUSLY SWEET . She stands all of 4 & 1/2 feet tall, always wears gray pencil skirts, a button up white shirt, and a knit beanie type hat and if I had to guess is somewhere in her late 70s. I'm not sure what religion she classifies herself as but I know that she has a strong faith in God . She bakes her own bread, fasts on certain days, cooks and cooks like crazy on others and works her little fingers to the bone taking care of a husband with dimentia and her fairly old farm house:flowerforyou: .

Any time there is a holiday I find myself teetering on the fence of what to say to her:huh: , for I don't know what ones she celebrates (normally I say Happy --- anyway, because for instance, although I celebrate Christmas "I" would still say thank you if someone wished me a Happy Kwanza or other holiday )... I took a deep breath and asked "Mrs. M---, do you and your husband celebrate Thanksgiving?". She smiled her crooked little smile and said "Yes dear we do. But NOT the same time the rest of the United States does. WE celebrate on the REAL day as elected by President George Washington. It wasn't until Lincoln came along and changed the date so that those fighting in the Civil War could be part of the feasting that it began being celebrated in November." I thoughtfully replied "Oh? I was not aware of that, thank you. In that case I hope you and Mr. M--- have a WONDERFUL Thursday and every day until and every day thereafter." She smiled back and said thank you, and informed me that HER thanksgiving was wonderful indeed .

After she left, before the door on her gigantic truck slammed closed, I looked it up... she was, of course, correct! If you ever have a moment, look it up... the history is quite interesting. You may not care, but it was definately a bright spot on my otherwise crappy little Tuesday afternoon. (Thanks to YOU Mrs. M---)

MrsCon40

I did not know that. I would have loved more history and less emoticons.

Here is a great link...

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.[1] As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

And Lincoln's speech on the matter... http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

Happy Thanksgiving!

:flowerforyou:

kasperazgirl

It's people like Mrs.M that make it worth wild to work in customer services thank you for sharing your story, this was something i didn't know also.

AwesomelyAmber

:laugh: Sorry but as with previous posts "I swear to always over use emoticons due to the fact that "I" them and they make me happy" and after all it is 'chit chat, fun, and games' and they are pretty fun LOL
But thank you so much for the additional info! I was never all that 'into' history in school but find that now that I have 'grown up' I find it interesting to learn how our traditions came to be

and YES kasperazgirl! She sure does!

TheRoadDog

Sure, she can celebrate it any time she wants, she's retired. I want my 4 day weekend. Plus, how does she coordinate Black Friday?

ElizabethRoad

Sure, she can celebrate it any time she wants, she's retired. I want my 4 day weekend. Plus, how does she coordinate Black Friday?

She's 4 1/2 feet tall. I hope she stays far away from those crowds.

AwesomelyAmber

:laugh: Somehow I don't think Black Friday matters much to this little lady :laugh: (for the record I agree with it the way it is... although "I" don't get a four day weekend:grumble: ) Happy Thanksgiving!!!

rileysowner

So what is the real day?

AwesomelyAmber

NOW it is always the 4th Thursday Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Tangerine302

That's interesting! Thanks for sharing the information and also your sweet customer.

MinnieInMaine

According to wiki (know it's not always 100% but the history channel website had similar info), George Washington first proclaimed a thanksgiving celebration in December 1777 in honor of the defeat of the British - no specific date given. Then in 1789 he declared on for Thursday the 26th of November. John Adams and James Madison also proclaimed days of thanksgiving. Then Abe made it official.

ETA: thanks for sharing this neat tidbit Amber! I never knew that either and had fun googling for more info.

dlaplume2

I actually knew that. I didn't know the orginal date was 11/26th, but I did know it was in Nov and that is was changed to the fourth Thurs in Nov.

There are lots of holidays that have been changed aroung like that. Apparently we Americans like our 3 day weekends. :laugh:
Martin Luther King Jr's birthday in Jan and Washington's B-day in Feb are examples of that.