Thanksgiving: Modern Traditions of Great Holiday

2:46 pm  |  24.09.2021

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and Thanksgiving 2021 occurs on Thursday, November 25. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

What is Thanksgiving to Eat? 


On Thanksgiving, American families usually have a stuffed turkey on the opulently laid table. The traditional filling of the turkey consists of bread, onions, celery, eggs, parsley, and various spices. But here too there are numerous variants, for example, turkeys are often stuffed with apricots and bacon or with apples and rice. Patrick Ryan shows in his video how to make the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving.

In addition to the main course, there are of course a variety of side dishes. Sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, green vegetables such as peas, beans, and Brussels sprouts are particularly popular. There is often a delicious cranberry sauce, which is also available in our shop.

A corn soup is often served as a starter on Thanksgiving. For dessert, many families have pumpkin pie – a delicious pumpkin pie. But the apple pie and pecan pie are also extremely popular on Thanksgiving.

READ: Thanksgiving: Historical Facts about American Harvest Day

As you can see, the number of dishes and delicacies is very pronounced. It is practically part of the good order to order a second look. Still, there is usually a lot of food leftover. The so-called “leftovers” are consumed in the following days. Did you know that leftover food is often more popular than Thanksgiving food itself? Many Americans use the rest of the turkey to make turkey sandwiches. Of course, the delicious cranberry sauce shouldn’t be missing here either.

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How Many Turkeys Will Be Eaten?

Around 46 million turkeys are eaten in the United States each year. With around 330 million inhabitants, there is one turkey for every seven people. But not all turkeys are eaten! The so-called National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is now part of the White House tradition. With her, the president is presented with a live turkey. It has been a tradition since 1989 for the incumbent US president to pardon the turkey he was presented with on Thanksgiving. George W. Bush and Barack Obama each “saved” the lives of 16 turkeys during their tenure.

How Important is Thanksgiving to Americans?

As already mentioned at the beginning, Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays for an American, along with Christmas. Thanksgiving is almost as important to the American people as Independence Day, on July 4th. Thanksgiving is the day when money and work become less important and friends and family take center stage. In hardly any other country in the world is the harvest festival celebrated as it is in the USA. This is also related to the zealous patriotism of the Americans. In the USA, people are particularly proud of the important historical events, customs, and traditions that date back a long time, some of which are centuries old.

Black Friday and Thanksgiving 

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States. This heralds the Christmas shopping season. The focus of Black Friday is on big discounts in retail, which are intended to stimulate consumption. Since Friday is usually taken off for a long weekend due to Thanksgiving and serves as a bridge day, so to speak, many Americans use the day to do their first Christmas shopping. Many shops, therefore, open in the early hours of the morning.

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It often happens that many people wait in long queues in front of the shops at night to get hold of long-awaited bargains. From an economic point of view, Black Friday serves as an important indicator of the holiday season in the USA.

Where the name “Black Friday” originally came from cannot be proven beyond doubt. The most plausible and popular are the following explanations:


The name comes from the fact that the many crowds on the streets and in the shops appear like a single black mass from a distance.

Black Friday is considered the day of the year with the highest turnover when retailers have the chance to get out of the red and thus to write black instead of red numbers

Black Friday is not to be confused with Black Thursday, the day of the stock market crash in New York in October 1929. Due to the time difference in Europe, the day of the crash in this country fell on a Friday, the so-called “Black Friday” – while in the USA it was on Black Thursday is the talk of black Thursday.

Thanksgiving in Canada 

While Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday in November, Canadian Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. This is because in northern Canada the harvest is collected earlier than in the USA.

Thanksgiving is a public holiday in most places in Canada, making Thanksgiving one of the popular long weekends of the year. Many different dishes are also served in Canada. Stuffed turkey, boiled ham, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of desserts ensure that nobody goes hungry on Canadian Thanksgiving Day.

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READ: History of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: It’s Interesting

Similar to the United States, Thanksgiving in Canada is a huge family celebration where friends and families get together to have a nice evening together. Depending on the region, there are various parades and sporting events that accompany the Canadian Thanksgiving Festival on Thanksgiving in Canada.

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place every year on Thanksgiving in New York City and is one of the most traditional holiday parades in the United States. The three-hour parade is run by Macy’s department store and attracts huge crowds every year. The event will also be shown live on television and watched by millions of Americans.

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Macy’s Department Store’s Thanksgiving Parade is known for its brightly decorated floats, marching bands, and cheerleading and dance groups. However, the parade is famous for its large number of balloons from well-known comic heroes and toy figures. Every year there are several giant balloons that attract everyone’s attention. For example, Charlie Brown, Spider-Man, Olaf from Frozen, Hello Kitty, Sonic the Hedgehog, Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, Scooby-Doo, and Shrek were made as giant balloons in recent years and made eyes shine on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – not just with the children.

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