Thanksgiving

jwoodovetail

Nov 15, 20204 min read

In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance. Instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been an offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in 1621. Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird, whether roasted, baked, or deep fried on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity (Tennessee is the “Volunteer” State, pun intended), and communities often hold food drives and host free meals for the less fortunate.

Parades have also become an integral part of the holiday in cities and towns across the US. Presented by Macy’s department store since 1924, New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the largest and most famous, attracting some 2 to 3 million spectators along its 2.5 mile route and drawing an enormous television audience. It typically features marching bands, performers, elaborate floats conveying various celebrities and giant balloons shaped like cartoon characters.

Beginning in the mid 20th century and perhaps even earlier, the President of the United States has “pardoned” one or two Thanksgiving turkeys each year, sparing the birds from slaughter and sending them to a farm for retirement. A number of US governors also perform the annual turkey pardon ritual.

Thanksgiving, which occurs on the fourth Thursday in November, continues to be a day for Americans to gather for a day of feasting, family, and football. Yale and Princeton first played on Thanksgiving in 1876, during a time when football was still evolving from a rugby hybrid into the sport we know today, and the holiday later became the traditional date for the Intercollegiate Football Association Championship game. By the late 1890s, thousands of football games were taking place each Thanksgiving. When professional football leagues first caught on around the turn of the 20th century, they immediately adopted the Thanksgiving Day tradition. Many saved the Holiday for their title games or other big matchups, but when the National Football League was founded in 1920, it began hosting as many as six Thanksgiving contests each year. Today the NFL holds three Thanksgiving games each November, two of which always feature the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions and Cowboys have since become as much of a Thanksgiving tradition as pumpkin pie and stuffing.

Thanksgiving 2020 is on Thursday, November 26, 2020. This year is a little different due to the Covid pandemic and certain places may or may not be available to celebrate the traditional feast associated with this holiday. So we decided to help by listing some businesses that are open for dine in and businesses that are offering Thanksgiving feast order pick up.