OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

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OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Here is a link to Wikipedia Thanksgiving.
It was originally a celebration of thanks by the Pilgrims for a good harvest after the first year they were here. Today it has been so commercialized that the original meaning has been lost, as with most of the major holidays.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

"Different" would apply better than "bigger". I think from an emotional standpoint (whether positive or negative) Christmas means more. However many places of business only give the day of Christmas as a paid holiday, whereas on Thanksgiving both the Thursday and Friday are holidays (schools included). The most travel in the USA occurs during the Thanksgiving holiday where people get together for family reunions. The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday and is the day stores start their holiday gift sales. It's the busiest shopping day of the year. The Monday after Thanksgiving is the busiest online shopping day of the year.

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me@rescam.org

OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

I think the best way to describe it, is to simply call Thanksgiving is a Harvest Festival at home. It is when extended families tend to gather for a feast meal.

The day after shopping is shopping for the commercial holiday called Christmas.

As for money Thanksgiving has little spent on anything but food.

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OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

I think the best way to describe it, is to simply call Thanksgiving is a Harvest Festival at home. It is when extended families tend to gather for a feast meal.

The day after shopping is shopping for the commercial holiday called Christmas.

As for money Thanksgiving has little spent on anything but food.

"Harvest Festival at home" I like the sound of that. I think I should start a campaign for Thanksgiving to be a UK celebration.

Bernie

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OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Bernie.......
Thanksgiving is a pagan holiday...a time for us is a time to reflect upon and give thanks for that which we have been blessed with over the past year. I myself have so much to be grateful for that I can hardly recount it.......

Christmas on the other hand, is a religious holiday.......celebrating the
birth of Jesus, our savior........
He came to earth a humble man, like the rest of us, but left us to take our sins with him, that we might find forgiveness from his Father, God.

I hope this explains a bit....

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Christmas on the other hand, is a religious holiday.......celebrating the
birth of Jesus, our savior........

Although most of Christmas has been paganized through commercialization.

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me@rescam.org

Thanks Misfit, I couldn't have said it better.


@ Bernie, Harvest Festival is probably as close as you get to the term Thanksgiving. Here in the USA it celebrates the first shared "BBQ/Potluck" between the Native Americans and Europeans.
(Being a german living in the USA, this is as good as I can explain it.)

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Here is a link to Wikipedia Thanksgiving.
It was originally a celebration of thanks by the Pilgrims for a good harvest after the first year they were here. Today it has been so commercialized that the original meaning has been lost, as with most of the major holidays.

To add in important part of the explanation to Stealth Eagle's post here (one that seems to be missing from subsequent posts) is that when the first settlers colonized in America, they did not know how to deal with the temperature differences and did not know how to do much farming in the New Land. Many pilgrims died off of starvation and an unusually cold winter (common colds killed many back then), and many wanted to give up and return back to England.

It was the Native Americans that initially helped these Pilgrims by teaching them how to till the soil and have a bountiful harvest of food. The Native Americans also taught the Pilgrims when the best day to harvest all the food and prepare it for storage for winter. This day became known as Harvest Day, which isn't exactly celebrated as a holiday here in the U.S., but a day that is still observed by many farmers.

After having such a large crop of food, a week long feast was thrown in celebration of their feat over nature, where Native American and English settlers sat down and celebrated together with all the food that was grown. With growing populations and a very busy American body of citizens, the week long feast was given up in favor of a single day, and it was called Thanksgiving, literally to give thanks both to the Native Americans that helped the Pilgrims but also to the hope it provided that they could survive in this New World and make it on their own. Indeed, the Pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for.

Hope that helps.

OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Here is a link to Wikipedia Thanksgiving.
It was originally a celebration of thanks by the Pilgrims for a good harvest after the first year they were here. Today it has been so commercialized that the original meaning has been lost, as with most of the major holidays.

To add in important part of the explanation to Stealth Eagle's post here (one that seems to be missing from subsequent posts) is that when the first settlers colonized in America, they did not know how to deal with the temperature differences and did not know how to do much farming in the New Land. Many pilgrims died off of starvation and an unusually cold winter (common colds killed many back then), and many wanted to give up and return back to England.

It was the Native Americans that initially helped these Pilgrims by teaching them how to till the soil and have a bountiful harvest of food. The Native Americans also taught the Pilgrims when the best day to harvest all the food and prepare it for storage for winter. This day became known as Harvest Day, which isn't exactly celebrated as a holiday here in the U.S., but a day that is still observed by many farmers.

After having such a large crop of food, a week long feast was thrown in celebration of their feat over nature, where Native American and English settlers sat down and celebrated together with all the food that was grown. With growing populations and a very busy American body of citizens, the week long feast was given up in favor of a single day, and it was called Thanksgiving, literally to give thanks both to the Native Americans that helped the Pilgrims but also to the hope it provided that they could survive in this New World and make it on their own. Indeed, the Pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for.

Hope that helps.

Thanks OzzFan, I think that should help him out.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Here is a link to Wikipedia Thanksgiving.
It was originally a celebration of thanks by the Pilgrims for a good harvest after the first year they were here. Today it has been so commercialized that the original meaning has been lost, as with most of the major holidays.

To add in important part of the explanation to Stealth Eagle's post here (one that seems to be missing from subsequent posts) is that when the first settlers colonized in America, they did not know how to deal with the temperature differences and did not know how to do much farming in the New Land. Many pilgrims died off of starvation and an unusually cold winter (common colds killed many back then), and many wanted to give up and return back to England.

It was the Native Americans that initially helped these Pilgrims by teaching them how to till the soil and have a bountiful harvest of food. The Native Americans also taught the Pilgrims when the best day to harvest all the food and prepare it for storage for winter. This day became known as Harvest Day, which isn't exactly celebrated as a holiday here in the U.S., but a day that is still observed by many farmers.

After having such a large crop of food, a week long feast was thrown in celebration of their feat over nature, where Native American and English settlers sat down and celebrated together with all the food that was grown. With growing populations and a very busy American body of citizens, the week long feast was given up in favor of a single day, and it was called Thanksgiving, literally to give thanks both to the Native Americans that helped the Pilgrims but also to the hope it provided that they could survive in this New World and make it on their own. Indeed, the Pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for.

Hope that helps.

OK I understand that. I probably wasn't clear enough in my question. Christmas is a religious festival to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of Mankind, that is if you are Christian. I suspect it doesn't mean that to a large proportion of the people who will celebrate it in a few weeks time. I was brought up a Christian, but I find it difficult to accept as an adult.

However Thanksgiving still seems to have it roots and reasons intact, would you agree?

In the modern, cynical, multi cultural world I just feel that a "Thanksgiving" celebration is more acceptable.

Bernie.

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OK I live in the UK and have long been puzzled as to what happens in the US on "Thanksgiving" Is it "bigger" than Christmas or just "different"

I have asked this question on a game forum I frequent so I would be interested to compare your thoughts.

Bernie

Here is a link to Wikipedia Thanksgiving.
It was originally a celebration of thanks by the Pilgrims for a good harvest after the first year they were here. Today it has been so commercialized that the original meaning has been lost, as with most of the major holidays.

To add in important part of the explanation to Stealth Eagle's post here (one that seems to be missing from subsequent posts) is that when the first settlers colonized in America, they did not know how to deal with the temperature differences and did not know how to do much farming in the New Land. Many pilgrims died off of starvation and an unusually cold winter (common colds killed many back then), and many wanted to give up and return back to England.

It was the Native Americans that initially helped these Pilgrims by teaching them how to till the soil and have a bountiful harvest of food. The Native Americans also taught the Pilgrims when the best day to harvest all the food and prepare it for storage for winter. This day became known as Harvest Day, which isn't exactly celebrated as a holiday here in the U.S., but a day that is still observed by many farmers.

After having such a large crop of food, a week long feast was thrown in celebration of their feat over nature, where Native American and English settlers sat down and celebrated together with all the food that was grown. With growing populations and a very busy American body of citizens, the week long feast was given up in favor of a single day, and it was called Thanksgiving, literally to give thanks both to the Native Americans that helped the Pilgrims but also to the hope it provided that they could survive in this New World and make it on their own. Indeed, the Pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for.

Hope that helps.

OK I understand that. I probably wasn't clear enough in my question. Christmas is a religious festival to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of Mankind, that is if you are Christian.

No, you were quite clear, but I was hoping that my explanation would convey to you the meaning of Thanksgiving and denote that its concept is not religious based. Its merely an American holiday to celebrate that we were able to survive in the New World, for if the Natives did not help us, we probably would not be here (or at least not until much later, and the world would have turned out much differently).

However Thanksgiving still seems to have it roots and reasons intact, would you agree?

Not really. It would seem that many Americans know the basics of Thanksgiving, but many do not realize the full impact. Knowing the story of Thanksgiving can usually help, but too many Americans do not care about their own heritage.

To many Americans, Thanksgiving is simply "turkey day" where you sit down and eat a lot and watch football (American football, not soccer). I believe the meaning of Thanksgiving, like most long standing traditional celebrations, has been lost throughout the ages. Many of them know it has something to do with Pilgrims and "Indians", but many do not know the importance of the day (nor do many Americans know that the original Thanksgiving was a week long).

In the modern, cynical, multi cultural world I just feel that a "Thanksgiving" celebration is more acceptable.

Thanksgiving is not religious, so people from all faiths in America (or no faith at all) can partake in the day's celebration and it can have meaning for everyone, just like Independence Day.

Part of the problem is perception. Many Christians perceive that any holiday that gets a lot of attention (and faith-neutral holidays do get lots of attention because everyone is free of faith to celebrate it) is somehow more "important" than their own most special holiday in Christmas.

The facts that create this perceptional illusion is that people of non-Christian faith have never celebrated Christian holidays, and with the world becoming more, as you say, multicultural, people are more considerate of others' beliefs, which gives the impression that somehow other holidays are being celebrated more than (in their opinion) the best holiday of all. Some even go so far as to think there's somehow an attack on Christianity because of this.

In reality, any faith-based holiday is supposed to be what you make of it, and if any Christian feels their holiday is most important, they should not expect the entire world to celebrate it more than anything else out there (though Christmas is still more celebrated than any other holiday - even if the True Meaning has been forgotten) simply because they want or believe it to be Number One.

In summation, non-faith based celebrations are easier for all to enjoy while faith-based celebrations are limited to those who believe. This does not translate into "bigger" or "more important". It simply is what it is (to use a cliche).

Here in the US (for my family) it had been a familial get-together with a big meal including turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pie, etc. Times have changed, though, and, I expect it to be just another day as usual for me. Up at three, no visitors, regular meals, a run at regular time in the morning, no turkey, a little piano, reading the paper, getting on the computer, watching TV during supper and lights out at 7:30. In the US Christmas is a much bigger holiday than Thanksgiving. But I don't expect to receive any gifts like I did 50 to 60 years ago.

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I'll be preparing and serving Thanksgiving dinner (served at lunch time) to the residents of the Intermediate Care facility that I work for. 25lbs. of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and since we have to serve an alternative main portion by law: ham.

I'll be preparing and serving Thanksgiving dinner (served at lunch time) to the residents of the Intermediate Care facility that I work for. 25lbs. of turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and since we have to serve an alternative main portion by law: ham.

Sounds good no matter what, My relatives always put out the good food, Although My sister in law can't eat as much as She was supposed to go to the hospital to have a lap band put in, Which I think in Her case as well as mine is a waste of time and she's lighter than Me(How much I'll never know, At least I know She's about 55yrs old).

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

You’ve gotten a lot of opinion and information here so far, and all are valid. But I thought I would add my own observations.
Most religious based holidays are evolved from pagan celebrations. Christmas is no exception. In European pagan traditions it was known as Yule, Samhain, Winter Solstice, Alban Arthan, Feill Fionnain, Yuletide, Midwinter, Sun Return, and Fionn's Day. In China it’s Dong zhi. The Hindu’s celebrate Diwali. Jews have Hanukkah and Muslims have Eid ul-Adha. Ancient Persia celebrated Sadeh, the defeat of darkness. The list goes on.
I always find it funny when I read signs that say “Jesus is the reason for the season”. Christmas was not established as Christ’s birthday until the 12th century. The season is the reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of light over darkness. It is the winter solstice when days begin to grow longer. It is the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The end of dormancy and emergence of new life.
Ok no more lecture. In the US Christmas is a season. It is a time for the giving of gifts and thanks to the greater sprit for the blessing received during the prior year. This translates into shopping, Christmas trees, lights and other decorations.
Thanksgiving is a one day holiday. As already stated it celebrates family and friends in the tradition handed down from the pilgrims.
The big difference is that Thanksgiving is one day. Christmas is a whole month culminating on Christmas day. Also Christmas has become overwhelmingly commercial. When I was a kid stores started to stock Christmas decorations during the first week of December. By the 1980’s Christmas decorations were in stores no latter than Thanksgiving. Today, Christmas decorations were in stores before Halloween. As already stated the day after Thanksgiving is called black Friday. This is traditionally the single biggest shopping day of the year. It’s called black Friday from the bookkeeping terms, “In the Black.” Retailers work all year to meet their costs. The first profit they see occurs on Black Friday. Everything purchased after this day is their annual profit.
Well, I hope my observations are not too cynical. I’m off to chop wood for the fire. You have to have a fire on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Chain saws are loaded and log splitter is hitched up. Off to the woods I go.

Thanks Carlos and Ozzfan for your post.
I am still appalled at seeing Christmas even mentioned before the first of December after living here for a long time. How to reverse the trend, I can only guess.... don't shop until Black Friday??? for Christmas.

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Pluto will always be a planet to me.

Seti Ambassador
Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

I agree with Carlos. Most Christian holydays are based on former pagan holydays, which happened on astronomical dates, like the winter solstice. But I used to go skiing on Christmas, on virgin powder snow, before the start of the skiing season on the 27 of December. Happy days!
Tullio

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I agree with Carlos. Most Christian holidays are based on former pagan holidays, which happened on astronomical dates, like the winter solstice. But I used to go skiing on Christmas, on virgin powder snow, before the start of the skiing season on the 27 of December. Happy days!
Tullio

Skiing? Hopefully You don't get a broken leg or worse, Me I probably would and I've already had one leg broken, Of course If It was the right, at least I'd almost have a matched set. ;)

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Skiing? Hopefully You don't get a broken leg or worse, Me I probably would and I've already had one leg broken, Of course If It was the right, at least I'd almost have a matched set. ;)

On downhill skis you have safety bindings today, which should open up in case of a fall if they are well calibrated to your weight. But you don't have them on cross country skis, which us what I am using now, so if you fall you are on your own. The speed is slower,however,
Tullio

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