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Thanksgiving Day's economic history
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Thanksgiving Day's economic history.
Today many Americans will gather with friends, family and loved ones to share in a full day of delicious food and other Thanksgiving Day traditions. Many Americans will additionally give thanks for the love that they share and the happiness and or successes that they have achieved - all good reasons to gather and share a full day of enjoyment.
However, few may wonder why Thanksgiving Day does not fall on a set calendar date, but rather on the last Thursday of November. For decades prior (dating back to President Lincoln's national observance) to 1939, Americans celebrated Thanksgiving Day mostly on the last Thursday of the month.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), in his continued attempt to remake America during the depression years, changed Thanksgiving Day to November 23rd. The president's decision was highly motivated by large retailer's desire to increase the number of Christmas shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
At the request of U.S. Retailers, in 1939 FDR made his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation thus changing the official celebratory date to November 23rd.
The changing of the date did not bode well with many Americans, in fact many states refused to honor the change and continued to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday in November. Additionally, FDR's decision angered many smaller retailers as their store owners perceived the increase in shopping days as a disadvantage. The uproar over this proclamation continued for the next two years.
In 1941, FDR "admitted his mistake" and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
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