Time is flying!  It is Sunday, November 24 and there are only 31 days until Christmas.  By now you should have your tree cut, the decorations on the house and your plans started for New Year’s Eve.  It is the birthday of Zachary Taylor, Scott Joplin and Dwight Schultz.  On this day in 1859, Charles Darwin published “On the Origin of Species”, in 1874 Joseph F. Glidden patented barbed wire and in 1947 John Steinbeck’s novel “The Pearl” was published.  It is John F. Kennedy Day in Massachusetts, tomorrow is Onion Market Day in Bern, Switzerland and Thursday will be Thanksgiving Day in the US.

Let’s talk about this coming holiday.  While various states claim to be the location for the first Thanksgiving dinner, the traditional one was in 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn feast.  Initially, there was no official Thanksgiving Day.  Various leaders in individual colonies proclaimed days of thanksgiving in honor of a military victory, adoption of a state constitution or an exceptionally bountiful harvest.  These days were observed at different times of the year. 

On October 3, 1789, George Washington created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America.  The day was to be held on November 26. After that, Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed each year by the president.  No Thanksgiving proclamations were made by Thomas Jefferson.  President Madison revived the tradition.  President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed that a national Thanksgiving Day be celebrated on the final Thursday in November.

Since then, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the US.  Each year, Lincoln’s successors declared the final Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving.  But in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke the tradition.  That year, November had five Thursdays.  Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving.  His ultimate plan was to change Thanksgiving to the next-to-last Thursday.  He thought an earlier holiday would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas.  Fred Lazarus, Jr., founder of the Federated Department Stores, is credited with convincing Roosevelt to make the change.

The change was not well received.  Since a presidential declaration was not legally binding, his idea was widely disregarded.  Twenty-three states went along with his recommendation and 22 did not.  Some states, like Texas, could not decide and took both days as government holidays.  Finally, on December 26, 1941, Roosevelt signed a bill created by congress which made the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fixed the day as the fourth Thursday of November.

So there you have it.  All that foolishness for a holiday that people now-a-days generally ignore.  Most people feel that the only reason for the day is to kick off shopping for the Christmas season.  This year; however, Black Friday has been superseded by sales that have started during the week just past.  I guess you could call this the Gray Weeks leading up to Black Friday.

I understand that the holiday season “officially” starts with Thanksgiving, but now we have started the sales before the holiday has actually been celebrated.  Why is it we have to start everything earlier all the time.  The Christmas decorations were already up in stores right after Halloween.  I like Christmas music, but even I get tired of it when the stores start playing it on November 1.  I guess the purpose is to keep people thinking about the sales that stores are having.  You know, the ones where the prices are increased by 15% and then the stores advertise 10% off if you shop this weekend or buy three of the item instead of one. 

What really gets me are the stores that will be open on Thanksgiving Day.  What a total lack of regard for your employees.  This is one of the few holidays that is not tied to any religion.  It is a holiday for everyone, except the ones who have to work.  You can be sure that the people who made the decision to be open will not be at work.  They will be at home with their families, enjoying the day.  Oh well, to quote Mel Brooks, "It’s good to be the king."

As I said last week I am looking forward to the holiday.  I enjoy having the family over and the eating and playing Christmas music.  Our friend Mary Anne is one of the balloon holders in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (or the Macy Day parade as some call it).  She will be with Papa Smurf this year, so we will watch the parade and try to spot her.  I look forward to all of it.  When the lovely Elaine was expecting our son so many years ago, they had maternity pants.  These looked like regular slacks, except that there was an elastic panel in the front to allow the pants to stretch over the belly.  I wish they had those for men for holidays like this.  It would be easier than unbuttoning the pants and then forgetting to close them before standing up.  Oops! Not one of the “joys” of the holiday that should be shared.

This week’s fact tells us that $203,000,000 is spent on barbed wire each year in the US.  Is the purpose to keep out or keep in?  Either way, I wonder if Joseph Glidden (mentioned earlier) realized the industry he was starting 139 years ago?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving – eat, drink, be merry and don’t forget to button your pants.