In my exhaustive research on Wikipedia (motto: "Go ahead; write
it for us; we trust you"), I discovered that Lincoln first declared an
official national Thanksgiving in 1863, and it's been
celebrated annually in the US since then. But for eight decades
following Lincoln's declaration, it was a year-to-year presidential
declaration, and up until 1939, it was set as the last Thursday of
November. But 1939 was one of those years where there were five
Thursdays in November (which happens occasionally due to sunspots or
atmospheric conditions or something). So President Roosevelt declared
the 1939 Thanksgiving to be the fourth Thursday, the idea
being that the Depression economy could use a boost by adding a week to
the traditional Christmas shopping season. (Back then, it was considered
bad form to advertise for Christmas before Thanksgiving... isn't that
quaint?)
It turns out it was a pretty big deal. Some Americans weren't crazy
about having their calendars messed with--- there were parades, football
games, and other local events that were scheduled well in advance of the
announced change--- and since a Presidential declaration isn't legally
binding (read the fine print), only 23 states recognized the earlier
Thanksgiving that year; 22 states ignored the declaration; and the
remaining progressive states, recognizing a golden opportunity when it
fell in their laps, decided to go with both days.
The November of the following two years both had four Thursdays, but
Roosevelt stuck to his guns and declared Thanksgiving to be the third
Thursday, and, again, some states went with it and some
states didn't. But Congress couldn't stand this pandemonium--- Germany
and Japan were demanding a lot of attention at the time--- and finally
officially declared that, starting with 1942, Thanksgiving was an
official national holiday, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of
November (regardless of those mutant Novembers where there were five
Thursdays).
The overall Thanksgiving holiday also plays host to "Black Friday",
which is considered the starting gun for the Christmas shopping season.
I've heard that the term was coined because it's one of the busiest
shopping days of the year, and many retailers "go into the black" on
that day. Still, it seems like an unfortunate choice of monikers for a
day that's good for the business. Usually, putting the word
"black" before a particular day signifies that something's gone terribly
wrong. For example, I saw a movie called Black Christmas and it
was about a serial killer that comes to visit for the holidays.
I'm thinking that the term "Black Friday" was first used by the rank and
file retail personnel, and they probably meant it exactly like it
sounds. Honestly... I used to be in retail, and, as good as it is for
business, the day after Thanksgiving is like an annual Guadalcanal for
the employees on the floor. The positive spin to the term probably came
later, after the general public caught wind of it and the retailers
wanted to credibly claim it was an expression of customer appreciation.
People who know me can tell you that I'm a bit ambivalent about
Thanksgiving, in much the same way that I am about Christmas. The
holidays seem to own a lot of things that I'd just as soon enjoy all
year round.
Turkey, for instance. I really like roast turkey and its various
post-holiday permutations generated by leftovers, but I don't see a lot
of turkey dinners being prepared outside of the holiday season. Granted,
I've never actually prepared a turkey myself; it's always been done by
my wife, or my mom before that, or by my brother-in-law's family that we
mooch off of every year. But it doesn't seem like that much work to
me... someone pops it out of the oven and puts it on the table and we
all dig in. I wouldn't mind a turkey dinner every couple or three
months, but people with limited vision (usually the ones doing the
cooking) seem to have locked turkey dinners into Thanksgiving and/or
Christmas.
All material copyright 2009 Chuck Thornton