An official public holiday in the United States and Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year in the month of October. It is celebrated on the second Monday in Canada, and in the USA in November on the fourth Thursday. This is the beginning of the holiday season, which includes Christmas and continues until the New Year festivities.
Initially, an expression of gratitude and gratitude to God, as well as family members and friends for their good attitude and material well-being was invested in its meaning. Thanksgiving is traditionally a holiday celebrated at the end of autumn, and it has been known since ancient times. Initially, it was inherent in the agricultural peoples. They thanked heaven for its rich harvest and future abundance. Over time, these celebrations became more widespread and became generally accepted, civic and nationwide.
Interesting facts are known from the history of the holiday. For example, about the first immigrants from England who arrived on the American continent on the famous Mayflower in the distant 1620. They landed in November after a hard voyage across the raging ocean and became the founders of the Plymouth colony. Today it is the state of Massachusetts. Half of the settlers could not stand the hunger, disease and cold, the rest in the spring, relying on the help of local Indians, began to cultivate inhospitable rocky ground. The reward for their efforts was an unexpectedly rich harvest, and the first governor of the colonists proposed holding Thanksgiving to the Lord in 1621 together with the leader and Indians of that tribe.
Subsequently, they began to celebrate it from time to time, getting a good harvest, and the first president of the united state of the USA, George Washington, proposed to celebrate it annually on November 26 as a national holiday. Over time, the days of celebration changed, and it was not until 1941 that Congress passed a final bill on this subject. Thanksgiving in America received official recognition and became one of the good holidays of Americans.
An ancient centuries-old tradition of celebration is the unification of several generations of a family at a common dining table. Usually relatives gather at the oldest member of the family clan. On Thanksgiving, at a festive dinner, everyone says thanks for all the good things that happened in life. The menu of the festive table corresponds to what was in those distant years at the first dinner in honor of this day.
To our days, dishes have come not only as a tradition, but also as a symbol of the holiday itself. No Thanksgiving in America goes without stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce and the famous big sweet pumpkin pie. Indeed, it is not for nothing that the Americans ironically or lovingly call this day “turkey.” Tables are decorated with ears of corn, apples, bright young pumpkins, oranges, bunches of grapes, like cornucopia hanging from the edges of dishes, nuts, dry leaves. All these gifts of nature are also the embodiment of its abundance and generosity. Lush bouquets of chrysanthemums complete these sensations, supplemented with berries and twigs. This is a real celebration of the bounty of nature and the rich harvest.
A grand parade is being organized in New York. Its main attraction is the huge size of inflatable toys, and with the arrival of the evening, fireworks are organized over the East River Strait.
Thanksgiving in England does not have an official status. Although there is a pan-European tradition of giving thanks for the harvest. Currently, many residents of Britain celebrate this holiday. The celebration may take place in communities, churches or other organizations. On Thanksgiving, fresh bread is baked in England and transferred to local churches, and canned food is also brought there for the poor or needy. Abundance reigns at the festive tables of the British, no less magnificent than that of the Americans, and all with the same traditional turkey.