Thanksgiving Day 2013

Turkey and TV – and it’s not even Christmas!

If you thought eating turkey was just for Christmas, you couldn’t be more wrong. On Thursday 28 November, many of your American counterparts will be tucking into this tasty bird, together with potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, vegetables and pumpkin pie. And they’ll be eating lots of turkey – roughly 535 million pounds of the stuff. But ‘why?’ we hear you ask, when Christmas is still less than a month away. The answer is simple – it’s Thanksgiving Day.
 

Thanksgiving Day is always celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It’s a time for people to give thanks for what they have and brings families and friends together for a special meal. Indeed, the average American will travel 214 miles to visit family and friends for the holiday.

But how did it all start? Thanksgiving Day has been an annual holiday in the United States since 1863, but many claim the first American Thanksgiving took place in 1621 with the pilgrims’ harvest celebration in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Others believe the first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when these same pilgrims gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. Whatever the date, people back then expressed their thanks in a special church service, rather than a feast.

Nowadays, Thanksgiving Day is very much focused on food, football and fun parades. Turkey is traditionally eaten because it was once a rare treat. During the 1830s, an eight- to ten-pound bird cost a day’s wages. What’s more, it was actually roast turkey, albeit in foil packets, that was the first meal eaten by Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the moon.

Spending hours watching football on Thanksgiving is a holiday favourite for many fans. This Thanksgiving, the Detroit Lions will play against the Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys will do battle with the Oakland Raiders, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will compete against the Baltimore Ravens. But if football doesn’t appeal, there’s always Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to watch on TV or in person, if you happen to find yourself in New York. The parade, which has now been running for almost 90 years, is watched by 3.5 million people each year and attracts 50 million TV viewers. Local Thanksgiving parades also take place.

So if you’re an American in England − or just someone who loves all things American − and are thinking of hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, there’s a whole range of American paraphernalia available to make you feel at home. Dress up in a Stars and Stripes top hat or American flag eye mask, or set your table with USA Flying Colours napkins, paper cups and plates. After all, if you can’t make it to the USA, why not bring the USA to you!