What is Thanksgiving and can you introduce tartan?

As a child of the 90's I have to admit my perception of Thanksgiving within the US largely comes down to watching Friends and their "Friendsgiving" specials, but I'm not sure how accurate this really is so I best find out more!

As I mentioned, I always knew that America and Canada celebrated Thanksgiving on different dates, but I had no idea just how different the celebrations were. The Canadian celebration has changed a number of times with each variation taking on a slightly different feel.

The first European celebration in North America was held by Sir Martin Frobisher and his crew back in 1578 during this third voyage to Canada while he was in search of the Northwest Passage. Their meal consisted of salt beef, biscuits and mushy peas to celebrate and give thanks for their safe arrival in what is now Nunavut. Even earlier than this though, the Indigenous people of North America had a longstanding tradition of holding feats in celebration of the harvest. Cooler Canadian temperatures mean that harvest ends earlier than in the US and is said to have resulted in the earlier celebration.

In 1859 a national Thanksgiving was organised by leaders of the Canadian clergy who appropriated the holiday of American Thanksgiving, with the intention of creating a national day of “public thanksgiving and prayer”. It is said that citizens objected to this as they felt it blurred the distinction between church and States which was of great importance to many Canadians.

Another celebration was held after Confederation (the union between the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Province of Canada), but this was held much earlier within the year on the 5th April 1872. The reason behind this celebration was non-religious and was actually to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from illness, who went on to become King Edward VII.

The first official Thanksgiving celebration was held on the 6th November 1879. For many years after the date of celebration would vary, always celebrating the end of harvest and sometimes coinciding with anniversaries related to the British monarchy. This changed again in 1921 when Thanksgiving celebrations were combined with Armistice Day and celebrated during the week of the 11th November. In 1931 Armistice day was renamed as Remembrance Day and Thanksgiving was moved to early October, however it took until 1957 for the the second Monday of October each year to become an official date. This stopped the government having to re-declare the holiday each year. The day was proclaimed “a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”.

Today, Thanksgiving is an official holiday in all provinces, other than Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick & Nova Scotia. The celebration varies between provinces with the dishes served varying the most. In Newfoundland they celebrate with Jigg's dinner (a typically boiled Sunday Dinner) rather than turkey. In Ontario butter tarts are the preferred dessert whereas Pumpkin Pie is generally the chosen dish in the rest of the country.

While trying to get my head around the differences in celebration, I reached out to our good friend Lorraine Bell. Lorraine is the 84th Chief of the New York Caledonian Club, however she is originally from Winnipeg in Canada and spent many years in Toronto before moving to the Big Apple. So as a Canadian living in New York, I couldn't think of anyone better to tell me more. To find our more about Lorraine's story and the world of Tartan in New York, you can watch Anna's interview with Lorraine on YouTube.

I also asked Lorraine if her Scottish heritage influenced how she celebrated the holidays.

My Cousin, Astrid told me a bit more about our family's own celebration too. Sadly I've never been in Canada in early October, but I do hope I can join in the celebrations in the future.

I was of course hoping that haggis, whisky and shortbread may have been introduced to the feast, but thankfully St Andrew's Day is celebrated on the 30th November so there's still plenty of opportunity to bring the Scottish classics to the table ahead of Christmas.

The origins of American Thanksgiving date back to 1621 when the Pilgrims or English settlers who had travelled to North American on the Mayflower to establish Plymouth Colony (known today as Plymouth in Massachusetts) celebrated their first harvest in the "New World".

The feast reportedly lasted for three days and was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. The settlers were quite used to celebrating days of prayer to thank God for various blessing, including the end of a drought or military victories so it seems only right to think this would have been a huge celebration after surviving a harsh winter, riddled with disease.

Thanksgiving was first celebrated nationally in 1789, however it's celebration was intermittent until 1863 when former president, Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. Seven years later, the new president Ulysses Grant created the Holidays Act which meant Thanksgiving was to become a yearly appointed federal holiday in Washington DC. Then in 1885 federal holidays became a paid holiday for all federal workers throughout the United States.

Franklin D. Roosevelt caused controversy during his time as president when he changed the date of Thanksgiving between 1939 and 1941, with some referring to the holiday as "Franksgiving" during this time. From 1942 a new act of Congress meant that the fourth Thursday in November would always be the set date of the holiday and this was no longer at the discretion of the President.

Although the celebration has evolved over the year, the tradition of giving thanks to God is still seen today in various forms. This mainly involves attending a thanksgiving themed religious service ahead of the holiday and saying a prayer at the table ahead of the dinner. It's also common for everyone at the table to share a specific reason that they are thankful that year as part of the mealtime prayer.

Turkey is the most commonly featured part of any Thanksgiving day meal, in fact the holiday is even known colloquially as "Turkey Day". Traditional side dishes include mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, squash, green bean casserole and brussels sprouts alongside gravy & cranberry sauce, but I'm sure, as it does in Canada this will vary from house to house. Of course all of this is then finished off with a traditional pumpkin pie!

The best known Thanksgiving Day Parade is held annually inNew York and runs through Manhattan, ending at Macy's flagship department store. The parade features marching bands, performances, giant balloons and themed floats, all ending with the Santa Claus float, signalling the start of the Christmas season. It's known as the world's largest parade, however the oldest Thanksgiving parade originated in Philadelphia and is was associated with a rival department store, Gimbles, until it closed in the 80s.

American Football is widely associated with Thanksgiving and dates back just about as far as the creation of the game itself! The introduction of football is said to have encouraged the Southern United States, which had historically rejected the celebration of Thanksgiving, to embrace the holiday. The reason the game began to be played during the holiday is simply because people had the day off work so they had time to enjoy the match.

The National Turkey Federation began presenting the President with one live turkey and two dressed turkeys back in 1947. John F Kennedy is said to have spared the live turkey and Ronald Reagan followed suit, jokingly presenting the turkey a presidential pardon. When George H. W. Bush became president in 1989, he created the annual tradition of the turkey pardon and this has carried on ever since. The turkey is often sent to a petting zoo after being pardoned.

Although Thanksgiving is primarily associated with North America, I should also mention that it is celebrated elsewhere. Including the Australian external territory of Norfolk Island, Brazil, Grenada, Liberia, The Netherlands, The Philippines & Saint Lucia.

With so many Canadians and Americans having strong Scottish heritage I like to think that families may wish to honour their Celtic roots during this time of celebration. Given that the holiday is centred around the dining table what better way to incorporate some tartan in to the holiday than with some plaid table linen?

If you want to make a Scottish statement, which I of course encourage, go all out with a matching tablecloths and napkins or create an instant centrepiece with a plaid table runner.

Or, for a slightly smaller touch of plaid, Napkins are a great way of bringing plaid to the party.