At some point in your life you have heard about Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada. But it is also celebrated in some Caribbean islands, Liberia and the Netherlands.
The feeling desired in the commemoration is recognition for all that has been received during the year. It's gratitude. Some people are even used to being grateful for the mishaps, because they strongly believe that they are also gifts and allow us to evolve, therefore, they are a learning experience.
On this date, many feelings arise with gratitude, such as love, friendship, hope, joy, union and peace and are present at the meeting between family and friends, in which it is common to say a prayer before the small banquet to be shared among all, which demonstrates abundance, not only gastronomic, but also of good energies.
For the economy, especially in the United States, Thanksgiving Day mobilizes people to move around the country and encourages all sectors of the Tourism segment. It has the beginning of the period of purchases that precede the end of the year.
Learn more about this centenary celebration that is one of the most emblematic, especially in the United States and Canada!
Origin of Thanksgiving Day
English colonists from Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States, in 1621, celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day at an autumn feast (Northern Hemisphere) to thank God for the good summer corn harvest. Suppers were held outdoors, including turkey, duck, fish and corn on the menu.
The President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, declared the fourth Thursday of November in 1863 as National Thanksgiving Day. But the date only became a holiday in 1941.
Since then, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in the United States, on the last Thursday of November, preceding “Black Friday”, the Friday of discounts and promotions.
Although the origin is not confirmed by historians, the first Thanksgiving Day celebration in Canada was in 1578, at a party organized by the English military man Martin Frobisher to thank God for having survived a long expedition in search of paths to the ocean. Pacific. Since then, the date has been celebrated on the second Monday of October, because in November temperatures can reach below zero degrees.
much to celebrate
Thanksgiving Day brings the family together around the table for dinner or supper. It is a day of thanksgiving for life, for the gifts of God, for the solidarity between people, for all the best they have and for the good events of the year.
There are masses, prayers, parades, football games, theatrical performances about pioneer ancestors, American Indians, peasants and people who work with the land and make the nation a reference of prosperity.
The “Macy's Thanksgiving Parade”, in New York, is one of the best known and started in 1924. The event is produced by about 10 thousand people, attracts three and a half million to the streets of Manhattan and 50 million people accompany the broadcast of the parade on television.
There are also solidarity actions throughout the country and families celebrate with drinks, especially cider and typical foods such as traditional turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, nuts, cookies. and others.
Turkey day
The main dish of Thanksgiving Day is turkey, so the date has been dubbed Turkey Day or Turkey Day.
According to a survey conducted by the American TV channel ABC, about 46 million turkeys were consumed on Thanksgiving Day in 2016.
During Thanksgiving celebrations there is the so-called “turkey pardon”, when the acting president of the United States chooses two turkeys not to be slaughtered. The custom began in 1947.
The wishbone, a turkey breast bone similar to a fork, is used as a good luck charm. One person holds one side of the bone and the other on the other, trying to pull it apart. Whoever gets the most will be lucky all next year. The origin of this game is Etruscan and was spread throughout the world by the Romans.
Not Spain
It was under the government of President Eurico Gaspar Dutra that Law No. 781 of August 17, 1949 instituted Thanksgiving Day in Spain, to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. However, here in the country there is no tradition of this celebration and few people know about this law.
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Although our tradition is not to celebrate Thanksgiving, we can include in our Christmas or New Year's Eve celebration the idea of ​​taking stock of everything we have achieved during the year and having a look of gratitude, affection and compassion. We can reflect on how we act to build a better and more prosperous world and perhaps rethink consumption in the period to make it smarter and less predatory.
