Thanksgiving: Recipes, Traditions and More
If you enjoy celebrating the fourth Thursday in November, give thanks to Sarah Josepha Hale: In 1863, she wrote to President Lincoln advocating the declaration of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Today, the Internet offers a cornucopia of information. Use our Thanksgiving Web Guide to find Thanksgiving traditions recipes and other Thanksgiving resources. You'll also find links to the menu from the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving, learn ways to keep your guests entertained while you're doing the dishes, uncover the mystery of turkey brining and much more.
Expand All Guide SectionsThanksgiving History and Tradition
You may take Thanksgiving for granted as a day to watch football, spend quality time with your family, or eat, but 150 years ago, it wasn't even a national holiday. The day we celebrate to honor the Pilgrims' first feast in 1621 wasn't made official until President Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. Below, you'll find a collection of sites elucidating the history of Thanksgiving and spotlighting some of its modern traditions.
Dulcinea's Insight
- As a country, we tend to romanticize that first dinner the Pilgrims had with the Native Americans. However, for many Native Americans, the settling of America is hardly cause for celebration. In 1970, many began observing a Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving. The Pilgrim Hall Museum (a valuable Thanksgiving resource that will appear again in the guide) devotes a page to recounting the history and current discussion of this tradition.
- If you're in or around the New York area for the holiday, consider heading to Central Park in Manhattan the night before Thanksgiving to watch the balloons being inflated for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The crowds are smaller than at the parade, and you still get to sleep late on Thanksgiving. For more parade details, check the Macy's site, listed below.
Dulcinea's Picks
The History Channel
Web site covers the full story of Thanksgiving from the first feast to the last float in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Listen to Pilgrim "interviews", watch videos on the Mayflower crossing, or view the History Channel's own float in the 2006 parade.
HowStuffWorks
gives the lowdown on Thanksgiving. Discover origins, symbols, traditions, and a history of the day itself, or compare Thanksgiving traditions in other cultures.
The Library of Congress
has a Thanksgiving timeline that commemorates all the important Thanksgiving moments from 1541 through 2001. Hallmark events including the first Thanksgiving Day football game and the day President Harry Truman pardoned a turkey are noted. The LOC also has a holograph of the letter written by Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the magazine Godey's Lady's Book, to Abraham Lincoln persuading him to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.
Pilgrim Hall Museum
proves that Sarah Hale could not only write advocacy letters, she could also cook a mean roast turkey. Her recipe, and an array of other recipes from throughout Thanksgiving history, can be found here on the museum's Web site. Also swing by the museum's main Thanksgiving page, which provides Presidential Thanksgiving speeches, news about Thanksgiving events at the museum or around Plymouth, and a dancing turkey.
Scholastic
provides an educational tutorial on the first Thanksgiving that's designed for teachers but also useful for parents. Even an adult without children might be entertained by the simulated Mayflower voyage and ship tour, audio clips of Pilgrim interviews, and a slideshow of the first Thanksgiving (photos are of reenactments by actors from Plymouth plantation).
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
is a big part of Thanksgiving tradition for many Americans. On the official Macy's parade site, get information about this year's parade or play some fun (and addictive) parade computer games.
Who knew ...
The Canadian Encyclopedia
has a brief history of Canada's Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
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