The first Thanksgiving celebration was a three day event celebrated by 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans in 1621 after the first harvest in the New World. During the Revolutionary War (1777) the Continental Congress selected one or more thanksgiving days each year. At the time, it was up to each state to decide to celebrate the holiday. In the early years of the Nation, Thanksgiving would be declared by the President, if at all. Thomas Jefferson for instance, never declared a Thanksgiving Day.
An influential writer, Sarah Josepha Hale lobbied Lincoln through a series of essays to proclaim a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November which subsequently was enacted in 1863. Sarah is famous for the poem, Mary Had a Little Lamb. Professional football took root as a Thanksgiving staple during the sport’s earliest days in the 1890s which continues today.
From our family to yours, we thank you for your business and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!