# Thanksgiving Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 25, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623 "2004-11-25T13:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/1 "2004-11-25T13:55:57Z")
Why does the American Thanksgiving Day always fall on a Thursday ? Do most Americans take Friday off as well ? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/2 "2004-11-25T13:58:10Z")
See Cecil’s column today. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/3 "2004-11-25T14:04:39Z")
Here’s a link to the Column: [Is it true Thanksgiving was invented by the editor of Harper’s Bazaar ?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_147.html) Cecil doesn’t mention, Thanksgiving comes on Thursday for the sake of alliteration. That’s the same reason we have Memorial Day on Monday, and Veteran’s Day on Vednsday. In any case, may you all have many things to be thankful for, and may all your troubles be little teeny itsy bitsy ones. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/4 "2004-11-25T14:19:42Z")
Moved to **Comments on Cecil’s Columns**. _samclem_ GQ moderator. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/5 "2004-11-25T17:36:48Z")
> [@grienspace](#): > > Do most Americans take Friday off as well ? Well, none who work in the financial services. Brokerages are open if the stock market is open. A lot of people do take one of their allocated vacation days, though. And of course, the day after Thanksgiving is a big retail sales day, so anyone who works retail is definitely at work, including folks in food markets and restaurants. Schools are usually closed. Some state governments close – the great state of NJ has historically done so. I believe the post offices and federal government offices are open except for, of course, Congress. Your calculation’s as good as mine, but I’d say no, most Americans don’t, but many do. ---
**Author:** ![elfinart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfinart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfinart)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/6 "2004-11-25T17:47:27Z")
Excuse me for being a lowly guest, but Cecil states that Congress passed a law that set Thanksgiving on the fourth Thurday in November. I could be wrong here, but isn’t Thanksgiving actually the last Thursday before that last Friday in November, which allows it to fall on the 29th, but never the 22nd? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/7 "2004-11-25T18:20:27Z")
Most sources claim that the 1941 law says “fourth Thursday”, without actually quoting the legislation. Prior to this, it was actually a Presidential proclamation, traditionally the last Thursday, and controversy arose during the FDR administation when it actually fell on November 30. FDR proclaimed it on the 23rd instead, in response to pressures from retailers who felt the 30th shortened Christmas shopping season too much: [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/thanksg.html](http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/thanksg.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/8 "2004-11-25T18:43:32Z")
Oh, and Thanksgiving was on Nov. 22 in 2001, as it turns out, which was the fourth Thursday that year. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/9 "2004-11-25T18:47:13Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Oh, and Thanksgiving was on Nov. 22 in 2001, as it turns out, which was the fourth Thursday that year. Wow, I _thought_ that year went by quickly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfinart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfinart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfinart)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/10 "2004-11-25T19:07:57Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Oh, and Thanksgiving was on Nov. 22 in 2001, as it turns out, which was the fourth Thursday that year. Yep, which means it falls on the 22nd and NOT the 29th. So… it IS the fourth Thursday, which is what happens when you’ve never actually been responsible for cooking a Thanksgiving dinner in your life. ( I bet my mom could have told me what date it fell on for years in advance) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![pctechmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@pctechmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pctechmon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/11 "2004-11-26T15:34:54Z")
Isn’t it Congress that declares wars not presidents? oh yeah that was a joke anyway…nm ; - ) and isn’t the difference between T’giving landing on the 29th and 30th merely one day? (aka one 24 hour time period) _that_ prompted retailers / FDR to make an issue of it “shortening the Christmas shopping season TOO MUCH”? geez…you’d think they had priorities that superceded the relevancy of such an issue / aka more important things to do with their time & our taxes ; - þ ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/12 "2004-11-26T15:58:17Z")
Stop that. Please. ---
**Author:** ![pctechmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@pctechmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pctechmon)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/13 "2004-11-26T16:25:56Z")
😕 it was only meant as tongue in cheek humor…sorry if it violated this forum’s netiquette ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/14 "2004-11-26T16:37:51Z")
Humour’s fine. Orange print will move you to pariah status pretty fast. Welcome aboard, all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/15 "2004-11-26T18:02:24Z")
Honest opinions and humor are great. I don’t mind dishonest opinions and bad jokes. Reading a paragraph of orange script makes my eyes bleed. As far as I know there is no official rule against it but black seems to work just fine for everyone. Welcome aboard. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/16 "2004-11-26T19:10:59Z")
> [@pctechmon](#): > > Isn’t it Congress that declares wars not presidents? oh yeah that was a joke anyway…nm ; - ) > and isn’t the difference between T’giving landing on the 29th and 30th merely one day? (aka one 24 hour time period) _that_ prompted retailers / FDR to make an issue of it “shortening the Christmas shopping season TOO MUCH”? geez…you’d think they had priorities that superceded the relevancy of such an issue / aka more important things to do with their time & our taxes ; - þ He pushed back to the Thursday of the previous week - the 23rd. The change from “last Thursday” to “fourth Thursday” yields 22nd and 23rd when the Thursday happens on the 29th or 30th (fifth Thursdays - the 28th becomes the latest it could be). And, yeah, the orange text is a bit annoying to read. We’re discussing Thanksgiving, not Halloween anyway - maybe brown? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/17 "2004-11-26T19:22:30Z")
Just in case you want to show people, this is from Title 5 of the United States Code: > [@](#): > > Sec. 6103. Holidays > > ``` > (a) The following are legal public holidays: > New Year's Day, January 1. > Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., the third Monday in > January. > Washington's Birthday, the third Monday in February. > Memorial Day, the last Monday in May. > Independence Day, July 4. > Labor Day, the first Monday in September. > Columbus Day, the second Monday in October. > Veterans Day, November 11. > Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November. > Christmas Day, December 25. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/18 "2004-11-26T19:37:13Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > And, yeah, the orange text is a bit annoying to read. We’re discussing Thanksgiving, not Halloween anyway - maybe brown? I think he was going for a pumpkin theme, not … well… pumpkins as in jack-o-lanterns, but pumpkins as in “food.” ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/19 "2004-11-28T14:56:22Z")
Getting back to the OP… Here in California we’ve gotten around the problem by declaring the day after Thanksgiving to be the official observance of Admission Day, the day California was admitted to the Union in the 1850s (the real day is several months earlier, IIRC). Everything State-related is closed, and you don’t need to twist a Californian’s arm to take a Friday off… ---
**Author:** ![marcerickson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@marcerickson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marcerickson)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623/20 "2011-01-01T04:11:03Z")
And Cecil’s column failed to note the first Thanksgiving in the New World: > **[Thanksgiving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving)** > > Sub-national entities > October 9, 2023 (Canada); > November 2, 2023 (Liberia); > November 29, 2023 (Norfolk Island); > October 14, 2024 (Canada); > November 7, 2024 (Liberia); > November 27, 2024 (Norfolk Island); [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanksgiving-day/276623.md?page=2)