You may not believe it, but the turkey tradition is relatively new and did not became the Thanksgiving staple food until it was popularized on a massive scale only in the late 1940-ies (nineteen forties) by Mr. Sears and company through mail catalogue sales, which is the predecessor to the current day Internet commerce.
The tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving in America we learn in history classes started in 1620-ies (sixteen twenties). The modern day Thanksgiving is, by popular belief, considered a direct ancestor of the Pilgrims’ celebration. It, as the research shows however, is not.
The roots of the current day Thanksgiving are quite spread out and reach as far as the traditional European end of season harvest celebrations. It turns out than that this most American Holiday has its origins on the Old Continent and is Europe centered just as the rest of the American history and traditions.
As shocking as this conclusion may be, when you think about it, it really is not. The winners write history and glorify it for their own purposes. In case of the United States and both Americas in general, the “white people” have been creating it since Columbus. Sarah Josepha Hale greatly contributed to popularizing and idealizing this tradition on the way to becoming the most celebrated or The Holiday of the United States of America.
Thanksgiving from the perspective of the original inhabitants of these lands or the Indian nations or tribes, the term used to describe the supposedly lower organizational level and hence the inferiority of the either "friendly" or "cruel savages”, may, and does look somewhat different.
Regardless of the contemporary controversies surrounding Thanksgiving in the USA, Thanksgiving brings together the United States citizens and residents despite their religion, national origin, political views and personal opinions like no other holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! Gobble Gobble!
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