The Invention of Tradition
Modern Thanksgiving in the US is mostly cozy and calm, with families coming together, turkey and stuffing on tables, and lines forming at stores for Black Friday sales.
But it wasn’t always like that, JSTOR Daily reported.
Historian Elizabeth Pleck wrote that both Thanksgiving and Christmas were once flamboyant communal celebrations with poor children and “lower-class males demanding treats from the wealthy.”
Pleck explained that the Thanksgiving holiday was originally proposed by magazine editor Sarah Hale in the 19th century and that it was declared a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln.
Initially, the holiday was not accepted fully in the South and not everyone could afford a turkey, but things changed near the turn of the 19th century.
Thanksgiving became a tool for the Americanization of newcomers since it was seen as a family celebration acceptable in many Catholic and Jewish circles. “The melting pot in action meant, for instance, a pan of lasagna next to the turkey,” JSTOR wrote.
Mass commercialization also shaped the holiday by replacing the carnival parades of working-class people with the advertising extravaganzas we see today – think Macy’s famous parade in New York City. Meanwhile, consumer spending on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is watched by economists as a sign of national economic health.
Football also became ingrained in the holiday as a way for men to bond “with other men and their masculinity,” according to Pleck.
“Invented traditions like Christmas and Thanksgiving are based on largely fictitious history,” said the report. And as time passes, “these become traditions of their own, accruing history, even as they transform.”
We at DailyChatter wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
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