5 Interesting Thanksgiving Facts

Interesting Thanksgiving Fact #1: Mary had a little lamb

The author of “Mary had a little lamb” was largely responsible for the establishment of the national Thanksgiving Holiday.

Sarah Joespha Hale, one of the great women in American history, campaigned for nearly 20 years to get Thanksgiving made a national holiday. During her campaign she continually lobbied various congressmen, wrote annual editorials on the subject, wrote annual letters to every governor in the United States and sent a steady stream of letter to the U.S. President as well.

Finally, she was able to convince Abraham Lincoln that it would be a good idea to help unify the country once the civil war was ended. Her final letter to Lincoln on the subject was mailed on September 28th, 1863. After reading it and thinking it over, Lincoln decided to declare the last Thursday of November to be the national Thanksgiving holiday.

Interesting Thanksgiving fact #2: Thanksgiving as a boost for the economy

The date of Thanksgiving was once changed to try and boost the economy. President Franklin Roosevelt decided to change the traditional date of Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of November to the second to last Thursday in November 1939, 1940 and 1941. He did this to extend the Christmas shopping season by a week. Only half of the states went along with this idea however, with Texas even celebrating Thanksgiving on both Thursdays. This became a mess that was settled in congress in 1941. In true congressional form, the date they set was a compromise; Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last and sometimes the second to last Thursday in November.

Interesting Thanksgiving fact #3: Thanksgiving dinner, why do we eat what we eat?

The things we eat traditionally at Thanksgiving is for a great part another contribution of Hale. She wrote numerous editorials that were widely circulated outlining various recipes to be used for the Thanksgiving dinner. These included many things that likely would not have been served at the original Thanksgiving, but today they have become traditional thanks to her. The things she put on the Thanksgiving menu were things as turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.

Interesting Thanksgiving fact #4: The very first Thanksgiving diner

The only things that are known to have been served on the first Thanksgiving dinner were deer, various types of fowl, flint corn, cod, bass and other types of fish.

Interesting Thanksgiving fact #5: Thanksgiving celebrated by Europeans

Thanksgiving was once commonly celebrated throughout the year by Europeans and Americans

Around the time the pilgrims came to America in 1620 it was common in England and many part of Europe to frequently set aside days for giving thanks to God. In the New World, where life was harsh in the beginning, there were numerous opportunities to hold such days of thanks. Any time good crops would come in, anytime drought would end, surviving harsh winter, it all were reasons to celebrate a day of thanking God.

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