Yeah today is Thanksgiving Day! I’m so excited because it means family time, games and food. But more of that in a minute.
Here in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving, if you don’t live here, then you may not know about this national holiday. if you want to learn more then click the link and learn about the origins of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Fun Facts
Back then…
- The Plymouth Pilgrims were the first to celebrate the Thanksgiving at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.
- The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford, had organized the first Thanksgiving feast and he invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians.
- Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese are thought to have made up the first Thanksgiving feast.
- Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries were not foods present on the first Thanksgiving’s feast table.
- The first Thanksgiving celebration last 3 days!
From then to present day…
- Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.
- Abraham Lincoln issued a ‘Thanksgiving Proclamation’ on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving.
- In 1939, President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would take place on November 23rd, not November 30th, as a way to spur economic growth and extend the Christmas shopping season.
- Congress to passed a law on December 26, 1941, ensuring that all Americans would celebrate a unified Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year.
- In the US, about 280 million turkeys are sold for the Thanksgiving celebrations.
Now for a little amusement…here’s a fun video. I present to you…
The Thanksgiving Overture
Thanksgiving traditions
Story time!
Thanksgiving has always meant family, games and food. Most years when i would go to my Dad’s house we would end up gathered around 3-4 tables . The usual adult table, some friends of the family mixed in at other tables…and the best one of all…the kids table. I always wanted to be at the grownup table…until i got my wish. Funny how that works out.
One of my fondest memories was playing games after we woke from our post turkey coma. The usual game was Risk. Love that game! Come to find out…years later, most of the women in that family hated the game. And i also learned that I was a poor looser as a kid. Who knew?
Those traditions continue in my family now. With 5 kids we play a bunch of different games. In fact we continue to play card games, monopoly and yes…even Risk. I don’t think I’m a poor looser, but my wife things I may be a bit aggressive at times. I just want to make sure the kids feel victorious when they win.
Thanksgiving Traditions From a Few Friends
I love hearing what other people do on holidays like these. So I asked around and collected a few Thanksgiving traditions from my friends…enjoy.
VaNessa Duplessie – In our family we do have a few family traditions for Thanksgiving Weekend. Right after Halloween I switch the decorations in our house to Thanksgiving Decorations. Then on Thanksgiving Eve,the day before, we usually just hang out with neighbors or he family. This year it was family movie night.
Then on Thanksgiving Day the cooking starts real early and we have mimosa’s and appetizers throughout the day until Dinner is ready. We spend the evening with neighbors and friends do dessert when the house opens up to the neighbors.
Friday after Thanksgiving is wine tasting day. One of our hobbies is making wine and we live in a near nice wine region so we head out to visit our favorite wineries for the day.
Then on Saturday we pull out all of the Christmas Decorations and get our tree and decorations up over the rest of the weekend. Sunday is also a day of rest as we prepare for the week ahead and school to resume.
Adrienne Smith 
We don’t really have any traditions Ken but we always eat at Mom’s and we always have the same thing every year. As much as she tries to change the menu, we refuse to let her. It’s that darn good and we salivate waiting for the day to arrive and then we all stuff ourselves silly.
She has these candles on the table that are a pilgrim and turkey that are probably 50 years old now. We wouldn’t let her get rid of them in the recent estate sale and my sister-in-law wants them when Mom is no longer with us. Adrienne has also written a post around Thanksgiving. make sure you stop by and say hi!
Debbie Turner My grandmother back in the 1930′s took various candies and raisins, toothpicks and a cupcake holder, and created little turkeys that she had the kids gather around to make. Everyone made their own, or the kids made them for the adults, and
everyone had one at the place setting.
I cannot remember a Thanksgiving without them. I took this tradition to school for the kids in my children’s’ rooms when they were little. My Scout troops have made them and the neighborhood kids would join in on our fun candy turkey
day.
I would venture to say that with all the cousins and grand kids who have taken
grandma Beckner’s originality and tied it together through the years, the generations,
with love and silliness at Thanksgiving, that this tradition this will continue long after
I’m gone.
Diane Kennedy We take common ingredients and put a twist on them. That’s what you get when you have a family of cooks and a few chefs. This year is a little more traditional, but I am making a pumpkin-chorizo soup as a starter.
The other thing you can count on is we always have debates over who gets to cook what. It’s like we ALL want to cook the whole dinner, or at least part of it. So far the menu: appetizers: fresh salsa, spinach dip and salmon dip w/ fresh veggies, crackers and homemade totopos (tortilla chip) and two different people insisting they do the best sushi – guess we are having a contest, soup: pumpkin-chorizo, salad: spinach strawberry, dinner: salt brined w/ ancho chiles turkey, glazed carrots, roasted brussel sprouts, 2 kinds of homemade rolls, and an argument still on yams/sweet potatoes treatment dessert: 3 pies (homemade of course)
But as far as traditions, we always do a bonfire at the beach afterwards and we go around the circle and each say something or someone we are especially grateful for.
From our house to your house, i hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. If you don’t participate in this US national tradition then I hope you have a great time enjoying your own traditions and celebrating with your family.
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
P.S. As always…thanks for your comments and shares. I hope you have a great weekend celebrating what’s important to you. Also click on the links on my friends names and send them a friend request on Facebook. Tell them i said hi!
What a great post! I must admit, Thanksgiving is a little bit foreign to me being from outside of America, your article has so much in it! Loved it
Martina Mariu recently posted..3 Steps to Achieving your Goal in the Next 30 Days
Martina,
I’m glad you liked the post. It’s really the spirit of giving thanks for the fall harvest. The concept can be shared with anyone. Hopefully this is something others can pass on as well…no matter what country they are in.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed week.
Ken
Hi Ken,
Thank you for giving us the original facts and reason of this Holiday. I didn’t have any Thanksgiving where I’m from since it’s an American Holiday, but I sure enjoy it now and always cook my Thanksgiving dinner.
Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..3 Easy Ways Of Giving Thanks That Will Benefit You
Sylviane,
I’m glad you enjoy the holiday now. It’s a great way to remind us to be more thankful. I hear more and more families around the world celebrate it as well. I think that’s awesome.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed week.
Ken
Hi Ken,
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday celebration. I enjoy being with family and of course all the great meals. I rarely go shopping on Black Friday and at this point of my life I don’t even buy Christmas gifts. I’m happy to accept them though
Thanks for the fun facts and the video. Enjoy the time with your family!
Ileane recently posted..Updated CommentLuv Plugin Increases Productivity for Bloggers
Ileane,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing. Family is what it’s all about. I don;t go out to Black Friday. Tried once or twice. My kids did this year. They came back with a “Never doing that again” Had to laugh…at least they have that experience.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I thought it was pretty clever.
Ken
Hi Ken,
That was fun, hearing about everyone’s family traditions. I got a chuckle out of how all the girls hated Risk
That is definitely a “boy” game. It’s funny because my parents are super traditional. For every year of my life they do the exact same thing – once in a while my mother throws in a new appetizer but there are a few standards that must be there, plus the turkey and pie. Now that I’m grown up I actually like doing something different every year. Sometimes we have friends over. Sometimes we go out. This year we went to the movies and didn’t eat turkey but had a lot of popcorn! But every year I’m grateful! This is a nice reminder to enjoy what we all have and the people in our lives. Hope you had a great holiday with your family!
Carol Lynn recently posted..Recovering From Disaster: 5 Questions With Diane Courtney, Owner Of Tangerine Boutique
Carol,
Got to love the traditions. One of my girls freaked one time when we were changing something during a holiday. She was adamant about not messing with her tradition. I really like how much she gets this stuff.
I would like to do a few more different things as well during this time, so we can give the kids different experiences. But it seems that they are pretty content with the things they way they are…thank you very much.
Thanks for stopping by, have a blessed week.
Ken
Hey Ken,
All, all the facts about Thanksgiving. Thanks for including them, I haven’t read about those in years. Refreshing my memory.
I appreciate you including my little blurb there although we really don’t have any traditions besides the chow. Oh yeah, we do love our food. The time of day we eat depends on who is coming from where. This year it was at noon and my brother wouldn’t allow us to watch the football game. They taped it so I wasn’t very happy about that.
Thanks for sharing yours, VaNessas, Debbie and Diane’s traditions as well. It’s fun to see what others do at this time of the year.
Hope everyone had a fabulous day and are enjoying their weekend as well. If they were brave enough to go shopping, I hope it went well.
Thanks again Ken and take care.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Thanksgiving Is A Time To Be Grateful
Adrienne,
I’m glad you gave me your little run down of the day. Yes we love our food. Sorry to hear you couldn’t watch the game.
I don’t go anywhere near stores after Thursday. My kids did though. Guess what they said? “Never again!”
We’ll see about that I’m sure. I’m a little surprised we don’t watch the football games either. But my In-laws always host and they turn the TV off when company is over. I like the family games a bit more any way!
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed week.
Ken
Hi Ken
Given I am not in the USA it is good to get some or the background. Of course I have worked with so many Americans I know a bit about it.
I loved reading the various traditions people shared here. Given I do not like turkey I reckon I would get enough to eat at Diane Kennedy’s. The wine tasting day to follow appeals to me to with Vanessa
I know it is a big day for you guys as when we were scheduling the tours in Australia for the various speakers we promoted here we always had to have them back home for Thanksgiving.
I have a goal to be in the USA for a Thanksgiving.
Thank Ken
Sue
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Sue,
Yes this holiday is big for the US. The most traveled weekend if you can believe that…even more than Christmas, per some reports. Given that it’s a more relaxing family holiday. I did find the history rather fascinating as I was digging through some sites. A few of these things I had forgotten as a kid.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great week.
Ken
Goodmorning Ken, Cute video…hahah, Thanksgiving is one of most favorite holidays. So much family time and sees so much more relaxed than Christmas…..Very warm post, thanks for sharing.
Carol Minarcik recently posted..No Posts Were Found!
Carol,
Thanks for stopping by. Yes Thanksgiving is more relaxing that’s for sure. I’m glad I just didn’t pass out from a food coma. Glad you liked the video.
Ken
Hey Ken,
Thanks for writing about the origins of Thanksgiving. So many forget it. The one thing I am grateful for is that the turkey is NOT our national bird he he he!
I love hearing about people’s traditions on holidays and I thank you for sharing not only yours, but your friends too.
For me, I could never eat turkey. Just don’t like it. So my tradition is to go out to my favorite Italian Restaurant, where people sing opera at your table and I don’t have to eat turkey!
This year, traditions changed a bit. As our family grows, I have a new grandson, so I spent it at an incredible party at my daughter’s in-law’s. Hey maybe that will be my new tradition? Who knows?
Donna
Donna Merrill recently posted..Assessing The Past
Donna,
I’m glad you liked the post, history and what some of our friends are doing. As far as the holiday and turkey goes…this is not my oldest daughters favorite holiday or meal. She likes the family gatherings, but could do without the turkey as well.
I just love the time we can spend together. We talked about doing something different but could not get off our lazy butts this year. Sounds like you all have a blast as well.
That’s what really matters. Have a great week!
Ken
Thanks for sharing the Thanksgiving traditions from past, present, yours and others. My daughter and I love the ‘feast’.
Ashley recently posted..Cyber Monday Specials – 3 Tips To Enjoy This Holiday
Ashley,
You’re welcome. We love the feast as well. Although I don’t over eat like I used to. Hope you had a great weekend.
Ken
A very nice post Ken, I love the pictures of your family. Thanksgiving is about family. I do not care about all the commercialization going on right now.
I wish stores would let their employees enjoy time with their family. And the troops I wish you all safety and know that your military brothers are thinking about you and all Americans.
This is a day to reflect on what you have; not what you want so I do understand why people need to buy more today.