Thanksgiving Day Celebration in United States

Thanksgiving Day Celebration in United StatesEvery fourth Thursday in November, US residents celebrate one of the oldest national holidays – Thanksgiving Day. This day is closely connected with American history and dates back to 1621, when the first settlers from England arrived to the shores of America. Exhausted by heavy swimming in the stormy ocean, many of them simply did not survive. The surviving significant help was rendered by local Indians, teaching them the peculiarities of growing crops in conditions unfamiliar to Englishmen. When, a year later, the inhabitants of the colony received a rich harvest, they gathered for the Thanksgiving holiday to the Lord and invited the Indians to it. The latter brought with them a strange bird, which was later called a turkey. This was the first time that Thanksgiving was celebrated.

Nowadays, the holiday is one of the most important for every US citizen. It is noteworthy that the Americans to this day, with pleasure keep and adhere to all the traditions associated with it. The main thing is the celebration of this day with the family. On this day, all members of the family must visit the church, and after the service to gather at the same table. Before starting the meal, it is customary to offer gratitude for the gifts received, including for the joy of meeting on the occasion of the holiday.

On the eve of the triumph, the Americans are trying to please those who have not been lucky in life. At metro stations, even a special place to place special tables on which everyone can leave gifts for the poor and homeless. Every fourth Thursday in November, charitable organizations distribute gifts to the needy, and dinners are organized for the homeless.

The third most important attribute of the holiday is the already mentioned traditional turkey. Since ancient times, this bird and Thanksgiving have become synonymous, specially for this holiday poultry farmers fatten turkeys, and cooks all come up with new recipes for its preparation.

On the occasion of the celebration, Americans eat more than 45 million turkeys. Today, there are about 4 thousand recipes for cooking, but they are all similar in that they stuff the turkey and cook it whole. Traditional recipe turkey is considered Plymouth, when the bird is stuffed with apples, plums, slices of pumpkin and cranberries. Corn, pumpkin, zucchini and potatoes are served as a side dish.

Parades and fun are another integral part of the holiday. The most famous parade is held annually in New York and is broadcast on television. Since the 1920s, it has been organized by the world’s largest network of department stores “Macy’s”. The main attraction here is inflatable toys of huge sizes (cartoon characters, fairy tales and TV shows), which are carried from the Central Park to the entrance to the department store (between Seventh Avenue and Broadway).

Well, the last tradition is a solemn ceremony of pardoning the turkey. In accordance with this tradition, at least one turkey should avoid the fate of being eaten. Last year, US President Barack Obama in the White House Rose Garden “pardoned” two Turkeys.

Image credit: dh_creative

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