What are the origins and customs of Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving Day is a particularly big holiday in North America, especially for Canadians and Americans. Even people who are far away from home should go back to reunite with their families before the festival to celebrate the festival. However, Thanksgiving Day in Canada is not the same day as Thanksgiving Day in America. Thanksgiving Day in Canada is on the second Monday of June 65438+ 10, while in the United States it is on the last Thursday of June 165438+ 10.

Why is it called Thanksgiving? Tracing back to the source, Thanksgiving Day is related to ancient American Indians, especially to the cultivation of corn. 1On September 6th, 620, a group of English Puritans couldn't bear religious persecution and sailed for America on the wooden boat Mayflower. They drifted in the Atlantic for 65 days under the attack of fatigue, hunger, cold and disease, and finally arrived at Plymouth, a North American colony.

It was winter, the climate was cold and the fields were desolate. The local Indians generously took out corn and potatoes stored for the winter and gave them to the hunted wild ducks and turkeys. When spring comes, Indians teach them to grow corn and pumpkins and raise turkeys. White immigrants have established close friendship with Indians. This autumn, there was a bumper harvest of corn, and the immigrants held a rich Thanksgiving party, entertaining Indians with roast turkey and tortillas. Indians brought all kinds of corn products, roast turkey, pumpkin pie, wild grapes and corn syrup, and people sang and danced all night. After that, every year at the end of 1 1 after corn harvest, white immigrants who settled here will hold a Thanksgiving party, and each family will roast turkey, make corn food and entertain Indians. In the long run, this gratitude will become a routine.

Food plays a very important role in Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving featured roast turkey, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes, and of course there were many foods, but these three foods were the most representative.

Everyone agrees that roast turkey must be the main course of Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey should be baked with bread as stuffing to absorb the delicious juice in the middle reaches, but cooking techniques often vary from family to family and region, so it is difficult to agree on what stuffing to use.

Collective celebration

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until the United States became independent that Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday.

On Thanksgiving Day, the whole country in America is very lively. Christians go to church to pray for gratitude according to custom, and there are costume parades, theatrical performances or sports competitions everywhere in the town. Relatives who have been separated for a year will also come back from all over the world, get together as a family, and taste Thanksgiving food with "turkey" as the main food.

The most famous celebration in the United States is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which started at 1924.

On Thanksgiving Day, America is very busy. According to custom, people go to church to pray for gratitude. Dress parades, theatrical performances and sports competitions are held everywhere in urban and rural towns, and schools and shops are also on holiday as required. Children also imitate the Indians in those days, wearing strange costumes, painting faces or wearing masks to sing and play the trumpet in the street. Families living in other places will also go home for the New Year. The whole family will sit around and munch on the delicious turkey and say "thank you!" " After Thanksgiving, the school will ask students to draw a picture of Thanksgiving. Most students draw turkeys.

At the same time, hospitable Americans can't forget to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home for a holiday on this day. Since18th century, the United States has had the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose a certain day of the year to do good deeds and thought Thanksgiving was the most suitable day. So as soon as Thanksgiving comes, they put a basket full of food and send it to the poor families. It was widely known, and soon many people followed their example. No matter who you meet, you will say, "Thank you!"

Holiday shopping

Thanksgiving shopping has become an American custom. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the total retail sales in the United States can account for 1/3 of the whole year, which is the traditional discount promotion season for various businesses. Shopping spree month begins on Friday after Thanksgiving, which is called Black Friday. It is said that it is called this name because in the early hours of Friday, everyone has to rush to the mall to buy cheap goods in the dark. There is a very vivid saying about this kind of behavior, which is called the early bird. Thanksgiving in foreign countries is as important as Spring Festival in China!

On Thanksgiving Day, the whole country in America is very lively. Dress parades, cultural performances and sports competitions are held everywhere in urban and rural towns, and schools and shops are also on holiday as required. Children also imitate the Indians in those days, wearing strange clothes, painting faces or wearing masks to sing and play the trumpet in the street. There were also many people in the church that day. According to custom, people should pray for gratitude here. On Thanksgiving Day, every family member always tries his best to come back from all over the world. The whole family sits around, munches delicious turkey and talks about the past, which makes people feel particularly cordial and warm.

Eating turkey: Thanksgiving food is very traditional. Every Thanksgiving, Americans and Canadians eat a fat and tender turkey. Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving. When Europeans immigrated to America, they thought that turkeys looked like turkeys, so they were called "turkeys". During President Truman's administration from 65438 to 0947, a ceremony of releasing turkeys was added. In fact, this traditional ceremony can be traced back to the administration of President Lincoln. 1863 One day, Lincoln's son Ted suddenly broke into the cabinet meeting room and asked for forgiveness of a pet turkey named Jack. Because this turkey sent to the White House is about to become people's Thanksgiving dinner. On June 20th, 2007, President Bush released two turkeys named Mei and Hua at the annual ceremony. Together, their names mean "Mayflower", on which the Puritans came to the New World.

Send food: Since18th century, the United States has the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose a certain day of the year to do good deeds and thought Thanksgiving was the most suitable day. So as soon as Thanksgiving comes, they put a basket full of food and send it to the poor families. It was widely known, and soon many people followed their example.

Set the table: The layout of the Thanksgiving table is also very distinctive. Housewives don't put flowers as usual, but fruits and vegetables. There is often a big pumpkin in the middle, and some apples, corn and dried fruits are piled around. Sometimes, people empty apples or pumpkins, put dried fruits with shells in them or light candles. Usually, the hostess can let guests into the living room after dinner, but she won't do so on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving dinner is sweet. Everyone wants to stay at the table for a while. They are happy to recall the past while eating until the last candle burns out.

Play games: After the Thanksgiving party, some families often play some traditional games, such as dancing and competitions. Some of them have survived to this day.

Cranberry competition: put a big bowl with cranberries on the ground, and 4 to 10 contestants will sit together, and each of them will send a needle and a thread. At the beginning of the game, they thread the needle first, and then string the cranberries one by one. When three minutes arrive, whoever has the longest string will win the prize. As for the person who dresses the slowest, everyone jokingly gave him the worst prize.

Corn game: It is said that this game has been handed down to commemorate the distribution of five corn to each immigrant in the case of food shortage. During the game, people hid five corns in the house, and everyone looked for them separately. Five people who found corn participated in the game, while others watched. At the beginning of the competition, five people quickly peeled corn kernels in a bowl, and whoever peeled them first won the prize. Then people who didn't take part in the competition guessed around the bowl how many corn kernels were in it, and the prize for the closest guess was popcorn.

Pumpkin race: Participants push pumpkins with small spoons. The rule is never to touch the pumpkin with your hands. The first person to reach the finish line wins the prize. The smaller the spoon used in the game, the more interesting the game is, which often makes everyone laugh.

In addition to these activities, some families drive to the countryside for an outing or travel by plane during the festival, especially Plymouth Port, where immigrants settled in the past, is a place that tourists yearn for. There, you can see ships and Plymouth stones copied from Mayflower, and you can spend hours visiting the immigrant village. The immigrant village was built in imitation of that year. During the visit, professionals dressed as Puritans talked with tourists, giving people an immersive feeling.