Wednesday 25 November 2009

Happy Thanksgiving


A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my US Blog Friends

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. The traditional "first Thanksgiving" is the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621. The Plymouth celebration occurred early in the history of what would become one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. The celebration became an important part of the American myth by the 1800s.[citation needed] This Thanksgiving, modeled after celebrations that were commonplace in contemporary Europe, is generally regarded as America's first. Elementary school teacher Robyn Gioia has argued that the earliest attested "thanksgiving" celebration in what is now the United States was celebrated by the Spanish on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida.[1][2] Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends. Wikipedia

Thanksgiving is not a holiday that we celebrate in the UK our 'Harvest Thanksgiving' is usually in late September or early October and is celebrated only in churches, not the big deal it is in the USA. However, it's not long until St Andrew's Day in Scotland which is celebrated on 30th November.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for your kind wishes!

    Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday... great food (and lots of it), dear family and friends and a time our family remembers all of the Lord's provisions (though we try to do that continually, not just on certain days)

    Looking forward to learning more about St. Andrews Day.

    Always a joy to pop by and see what you are up to! It's always something fun!

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  2. Love the layout and the history info. :)

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  3. What an interesting and informative piece Janice.
    Sue x

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  4. I got to cook for a Thanksgiving dinner once and it was lovely. I do like the idea behind it very much!

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