The Bird
I have often wondered who gave me the bird and I think I have done sufficient enough research to now give you the bird. Some of you may not know this but, this is week is Thanksgiving, the last Thursday in November every year. It is one of the few Holidays that doesn’t claim a specific date, just a specific day slot on the calendar. Thanksgiving is much easier to remember than say, Easter and Cinco De Mayo. I never know if Easter is going to be in March, April May or June so I just start the Easter celebration some time around Valentines Day just to be safe. Being late for anything is simply not in my DNA.
The history of the thanksgiving turkey is very unclear. Some say the turkey became the centerpiece of the reflective and gracious holiday because of the writings of Sarah Josepha Hale, Sarah with an “h” at the end (if you have ever met a Sara or Sarah, they are VERY protective of the spelling and when misspelled can lead to violence). Anyway, Ole Sarah Hale was the Editor of Godey’s Lady’s book in the 1800’s, of which I have just recently canceled my subscription for financial reasons. Mrs. Hale may be more profoundly known for her creation of the nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb” which you might like to know, reached number 12 on Casey Kasem America’s top 40 hit back in 1830, now on with the countdown. Anyone under the age of 40 will not understand that last joke but I don’t care, it made me laugh.
Sarah was a very busy and influential woman back in the day. Not only was she the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book and creator of educational ear worms, (Mary had a Little Lamb, Little Lamb, Mary had a little Lamb, its fleece was white as snow). Unapologetically, I just wanted to get that stuck in your head, like it is mine. She was one of the founders of Vassar College the very prestigious and renowned Women’s University. I am patiently awaiting my Honorary Online Doctorate degree in Artistic Liberation. I was just notified by Amazon that the package has been delayed.
Sara Hale, (yes I did it on purpose just to stir the pot) wrote about her family celebrations in New England which always highlighted the gobbling delight as the main course in all of her stories. She was very passionate about creating a National Holiday where families and friends could give thanks for their blessings and gorge themselves around the table, only to later watch the Dallas Cowboys. Speaking of Jerry Jones, He was asked for comment about the national holiday and he simply stated, “I was there for the first one and I will be there for the last one, how bout dem Cowboys.”
Apparently, the holiday was a tough sell for Sarah. She wrote to Presidents, Taylor, Fillmore, and Buchanan without so much as an out of office reply from any of them. It wasn’t until she wrote Abraham Lincoln did she begin to get traction for the Holiday. Honest Abe fully supported her belief that people should be allowed to take off work on a Thursday and stuff themselves with as much slaughtered barnyard fowl as possible. He began the task of passing legislation making the last Thursday of every November to be a national day of thanks.
Throughout the legislative wrangling process, it was said that both the Senate and the House of Representatives began to include verbiage to the bill mandating that cranberry sauce be added to the feast along with dressing. Tempers flared and the legislation nearly stalled when the congressional representatives from the north demanded that “Dressing be removed from bill and replaced with Stuffing”. It is widely known that there were physical altercations on the house floor over this sticking point. It was only when Abe suggested that both references could be included in the final draft of the bill, did the legislation finally sail through both houses and wah lah, Thanksgiving became official.
What also surprised me throughout this extensive holiday research, was that folks didn’t do much celebrating back in the day because before Thanksgiving was added, there were only two national holidays before Christmas (Winter break now). The holidays were; Independence Day and George Washingtons birthday. Folks were just too busy working and building a nation back then to celebrate stuff. Imagine living a life without Valentines Day! That is a travesty.
These days we celebrate like crazy! Why just to enjoy those three holidays, we blow things up on Independence Day, sell mattresses and furniture at a discounted prices for George Washingtons birthday, renamed to “Presidents Day” because all the other leaders of the Presidents needed a pat on the back too.
I know, I am very familiar with the Pilgrims and the Native American story, I went to school, I made the turkey drawing out of my hand. I hung the hand turkey drawings my daughters made on the refrigerator and now I have been to the Thanksgiving pageant at my Grandson’s school, so I am well versed on the Holiday…I am simply informing my 10’s of fans WHEN Thanksgiving became a national Holiday so don’t get yourself in a tizzy. I love doing a little research for these blogs, I always feel smarter when I am done and I hope you do to.
Please eat responsibly this Thursday and enjoy a week of thanks folks, Above all, don’t forget to say thanks for your many blessings, and if you were wondering about my stance on the matter… its DRESSING!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!