Happy Thanksgiving to All My WA Friends!
Wishing all my friends here at WA a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in Canada, the United Sates, some of the Caribbean Islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest of the preceding year.
As we get ready for our Big Black Friday, let's be Thankful for the bounties that have come upon us, and appreciate this Great Hololiday with a few tidbits of history and some Fun Facts about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Origins of Thanksgiving
In the United States, it is widely recognized that the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in what is present-day Massachusetts, when Pilgrims and the Puritans who emigrated from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England.
However, the practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s
Modern Thanksgiving was first officially called for in all states in 1863 by a presidential proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, who was influenced by the campaigning of author Sarah Josepha Hale, who wrote letters to politicians for around 40 years trying to make it an official holiday.
Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving on the final Thursday in November, explicitly in celebration of the bounties that had continued to fall on the Union and for the military successes in the war.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Here in New York City, our big celebration we have is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which has been running along Fifth Avenue every Thanksgiving since 1924, and is the largest parade in the world.
The biggest attraction of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade has always been the incredibly large full-size balloons, primarily consisting of licensed pop-culture characters, each handled by exactly 90 people.
A popular belief was that a balloon version Felix the Cat was the first character balloon in the parade back in 1927. Macy's also claimed that, but Felix actually made his first appearance in 1931.
The longest balloon in the parade ever was the Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger measuring 77-feet long.
This year marks the 92nd Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, at 19 degrees Fahrenheit by far 2018 has been the coldest Thanksgiving Day Parade in history.
Enjoy the rest of this wonderful celebratory day my friends!
Let's all give our many Thanks for the bounties that fallen upon us, and being part of this wonderful community called Wealthy Affiliate.
Cheers,
Kaju
Recent Comments
66
Great!
In Europe we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I'm happy
to read you all in joy for this celebration full of beautiful
feelings.
Cheers
Ingrid
Than You Ingrd! (hey, I finally know your real name....sorry my fault!). Hope you have a wonderful weekend in Europe!
Great post, Kaju. Enjoyed the history of the parade. Sure wouldn't want to be out there marching in 19 degree weather! Don't think I could hold my drumsticks to play the cadence with gloves on, although it has been so long since I did that, I don't remember if I ever tried that or not!
Thanks Carol, this had to be a very tough day for the marchers and the band, especially those drummers!! You would know (or hopefully not, as you never had to do this in 19 degrees!) , and if not, don't try it!
We just arrived back from a get together with friends, and it is still frigid! Hope you had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving:))
We had to march in the Drake Relays parade in Des Moines in the snow in April a few years. After the parade, all the bands who participated had to sit in the bleachers and play in a massed band concert. We were wet and chilled to the bone, but at least it wasn't the below zero wind chill factor that you probably had!
One year our bass drummer (yes, we only had ONE...very small school and band....) and some of his friends skipped massed band. As a result, they weren't allowed to participate in the Cardinal Relays parade, which is usually a couple weeks after Drake Relays. I got to band practice late (not late for the class, but too late to get one of our two parade snare drums) and got stuck carrying the bass drum down the street.
I was a skinny little thing, and the bass drum probably weighed more than I did. I was not a happy camper....er drummer... to say the least. Besides being an obnoxious person, she was not very good at playing the cadance (or the snare drum, either!)
So, I pulled a Tom Sawyer on the other snare drummer. I was twirling my sticks and acting like I was having a wonderful time, and made her jealous. Guess who carried the bass drum in the Cardinal Relays parade....wasn't me!
Holidays are all about celebrating traditions. Tryst you had a great day Kaju...thanks for the pictures.
Wishing you had a fabulous Thanksgiving Debbie:) Always a pleasure, and a Big Thanks for always being there in my corner:))
Love of how you bring forth history to the world of today -- being in the present ! ⭐️
A very, very Happy Thanksgiving to both you & Felicia, you two darlings of this Earth ! 🧡
Best of the bestest wishes for everything good, 🎵
... chee-eeerioo-o! ... 😊
Awww, Thank You My Cherriest "Cheer-i-o" of a beautiful person, we both wish a very, very Happy Thanksgiving to you Keishalina, you are the Sweetest!!
May everything bountiful and good continue to fall upon you:):)
... and may you two be ever showered with everything beautiful, fun, and goodie ..... chee-eeeriooo-o ! .... 😊
What a wonderful memory...watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade when I was young and my parents were alive and all was blue skies. Bittersweet. Beautiful.
Thank you so much for posting this amazing annual event that has always brought joy.
Wishing you an incredible day and sending love and hugs your way.
C & P
C and P. Just want to say that 2018 at WA has been rewarding in many ways, for me having met the two of and getting to know you through comments and posts has been a pleasure. So thankful that you play a part in this zany adventure.
Respect and peace
DAVID R
Love and Hugs back you both on this Special Day!!
Very happy I could bring back some sweet childhood memories.
I am very grateful to have as my dear friends C & P:) Be safe, be joyful, and have an amazing day:))
Kaju
It's been a wonderful experience to have met you and to continue communicating with you David. Many, many thanks for adding to my personal experience here at WA, and may 2019 be an even better year for both of us:))
Kaju
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Thanks for this friend, it brings back so many memories of 6 years ago when we were standing there ourselves watching this great parade and eating the nicest apple pie from the Magnolia bakery.
Did you and Felicia go and watch the parade yesterday. Xxx
Hey Friend, Thanks for bringing back these memories, I forgot you were here in NYC for the parade! We watched it on TV, in the warmth of indoors. This was the coldest Thanksgiving ever, and it was colder in the morning:)
Quite right friend, especially when it was so cold. We had a nice autumn day when we watched it. The coldest it got for us was when we were at the Giant's game on the Sunday night. xxxx
But those Giants fans are nuts, C! They will take their shirts off --10 degrees!
Never seen anyone doing that when we were there lol. Thought I was going to have to go and have a hot shower when we got back to thaw me out lol. xxx
LOL!!!