1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: a show that carves history and the bite size portions 4 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: every day of the week. I'm Gabe Lousier and in 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: this episode, we're giving thanks for consistency by looking at 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: the time when no one in America could agree on 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: when to celebrate Thanksgiving. The day was November nine. President 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill officially declaring that the 9 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving holiday would occur every year on the fourth Thursday 10 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:53,639 Speaker 1: in November. This legislation came just two years after Fdr 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,639 Speaker 1: broke tradition established by Abraham Lincoln by moving Thanksgiving from 12 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: the last Thursday in November to the second to last 13 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: Thursday in November. That change proved so unpopular with Americans 14 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: that the president took formal action in nineteen forty one 15 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: to move the holiday back to late November. The tradition 16 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: of celebrating Thanksgiving on a Thursday began with the Massachusetts 17 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: Bay Colonies. On that day each week, the colonists would 18 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: attend a midweek church meeting, which they called lecture Day, 19 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: since that downtime was already part of their schedules, They 20 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: typically held post harvest celebrations on Thursday. While many consider 21 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: the sixteen twenty one gathering of Pilgrims and the Wampanog 22 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: tribe to be the first American Thanksgiving, an official day 23 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: of thanks wasn't declared until seventeen seventy seven, when the 24 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: Continental Congress declared one in celebration of the American victory 25 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: at the Battle of Saratoga. Even then, the holiday was 26 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: considered a one time thing, not a yearly tradition. Eleven 27 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: years later, George Washington became the first president to proclaim 28 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: a Thanksgiving holiday. This again was a one time thing, 29 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: meant to celebrate their ratification of the u. S Constitution. 30 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: The holiday didn't become a yearly practice until eighteen sixty three, 31 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 1: when Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving proclamation declaring a national 32 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: holiday on the last Thursday of November. However, Lincoln's proclamation 33 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 1: wasn't the same as legislation, meaning that the holiday would 34 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: have to be declared again each year. Lincoln's successors carried 35 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: on that annual tradition for the next seventy five years, 36 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: with each president declaring the last Thursday in November as 37 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: a National Day of thanks But all of that changed 38 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine, when President FDR moved the holiday 39 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: up by one week so that it fell on the 40 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: next to last Thursday in November. The big question is 41 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: why did he make that change, and the answer, as 42 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: is often the case in the US, was capitalism. At 43 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: the time, there was an unwritten agreement between stores and 44 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: customers that the Christmas shopping season wouldn't begin until the 45 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: day after Thanksgiving. In a show of restraint that's hard 46 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: to fathom today, retailers would wait until the last weekend 47 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: of November to decorate for Christmas and roll out their 48 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: seasonal sales. However, that arrangement hit a snag in nineteen 49 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: thirty nine, when Thanksgiving was due to fall on the 50 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: very last day of November. Sales had been in a 51 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: decade long slump thanks to the Great Depression, and with 52 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: the Second World War kicking off in Europe, retailers worried 53 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: that the nineteen thirty nine shopping season might be the 54 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: worst one yet, especially with just twenty four shopping days 55 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: before Christmas. To avoid angering customers by starting Christmas sales early, 56 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: merchants instead asked President f DR to move Thanksgiving up 57 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: by one week. Roosevelt was sympathetic to their plight and 58 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: like the idea of giving a boost to the country's 59 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: flagging economy. He agreed to the change and declared that 60 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving Day would now fall on November twenty three that 61 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: year instead of November. F DR didn't see any harm 62 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: in adjusting the date, after all, the date had been 63 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: moved around by presidents before, But the American public wasn't 64 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: so cavalier about the change. For one thing, everyone had 65 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: expected Thanksgiving to fall on the thirty. The switch threw 66 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: off everyone's schedule. Suddenly, calendars were incorrect, and football games 67 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: and family trips had to be scheduled. The change in 68 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: date also made waves politically, with FDR's opponents claiming he 69 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: had abused his authority by disregarding tradition inconvenience. Aside, the 70 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: backlash was a little overblown. Because Thanksgiving was not yet 71 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: a federal holiday, no one was obliged to follow the 72 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: president's lead on when to celebrate it. Governors still had 73 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: the power to say when the holiday would be observed 74 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: in their states, and plenty of them chose to stick 75 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: with the original date. In the end, the choice was 76 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: made along party lines, with twenty three states with democratic 77 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: governors following f DRS change and twenty three states with 78 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: Republican governors keeping the traditional date. The other two states 79 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: there were only forty eight at the time, decided to 80 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: observe both dates, presumably decimating the Turkey population in Colorado 81 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: and Texas. The chain Engine date was controversial from the start, 82 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: but Roosevelt ignored the haters and kept the early Thanksgiving 83 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: date for the next two years, something his opponents referred 84 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: to as Frank's Giving Day. But in the end, the 85 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: president had to face reality he had effectively created two Thanksgivings, 86 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: which made it difficult for families to gather since some 87 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: people had different days off work than others. The holiday 88 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: was always intended as a way to bring the country together, 89 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: but Roosevelt's meddling had pushed the country further apart. There 90 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: was also the question of whether the extended shopping season 91 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: had actually boosted spending as intended, and according to data 92 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 1: collected by The Wall Street Journal, it had not. The 93 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: experiment was a failure on multiple levels, then, so Roosevelt 94 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: decided to clear up the confusion once and for all. 95 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: On November one, he signed a joint Aggressional resolution, finally 96 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: making Thanksgiving a federal holiday that didn't need to be 97 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: formally declared each year. The bill also tried to appease 98 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: both sides of the argument by making Thanksgiving fall on 99 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: the fourth Thursday of November, meaning that, depending on the year, 100 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: the holiday is observed on either the last Thursday, as 101 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: Lincoln intended, or the second to last Thursday, as retailers wanted. 102 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: Of course, if you're keeping track, that bill on November 103 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: arrived a little too late to take effect that year, 104 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: much of the country had already celebrated Thanksgiving a week earlier. Instead, 105 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: the legislation kicked in the next year, finally putting an 106 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: end to party division at least when it comes to Thanksgiving. 107 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now know a little 108 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 109 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 110 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. And if 111 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: you have any suggestions for other holiday dates we should 112 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: move around just for fun, please send them to This 113 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: Day at I heart media dot com. Thanks as always 114 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you 115 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow for 116 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: another day in history class. For more podcasts from my 117 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 118 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.