Fun_People Archive
27 Nov
Thanksgiving lore

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 96 00:24:19 -0800
To: Fun_People
Subject: Thanksgiving lore

From: poet <poet@idiom.com> (Matt Pico)

  I only received one set of answers to my Thanksgiving queries, and those
seemed motivated by a DOLEful view of the current prez.  So just that your
holiday may be complete, and the record straight:


1) Which President made Thanksgiving a legal holiday, and why?

> Answer: President Clinton because he wanted his fellow turkeys to have the
> same official recognition that he has.

Actualy it was Lincoln, in 1864. According to the PBS Civil War documentary,
the smell of roasting turkey eroded Confederate morale when it wafted from
the Union lines over the Confederate trenches. Perhaps that was his intent.


2) Which President changed the date of Thanksgiving from the last
   Thursday in November to the 4th Thursday in November, and why?

> Answer: President Clinton because he had an annual date with his mistress on
> the last Thursday every month.

Actually it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in order to ensure consumers had
enough time for their Christmas shopping. His motive was to promote economic
recovery from the depression (an economic, not psychological term in the
1930s).

© 1996 Peter Langston