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From the Ridiculous to the Sublime – Thanksgiving

A Cartoon Says It All

Thanksgiving brings us together as families if we’re lucky. But turkeys are on the wrong end of the deal. I’ve chosen to give you a visual aid. Going from the ridiculous to the sublime, the depiction with the turkey hearing its future, a cartoon says it all.

What’s a family Thanksgiving gathering without a turkey. Bird aside, the honest-to-goodness family member who’s oftentimes the brunt of a put-down might be called out in this manner: “You turkey!”

If you call someone a turkey you are calling him a stupid failure of a person. Turkeys have a reputation for being stupid. So this might be a good time to consider being more tolerant of those around us—family especially. Words can bite—pun intended. 

Watch your mouth this Thanksgiving—we all like to be held in high esteem. 

Scrumptious Edible (Thanksgiving Turkey)

An estimated 46 million turkeys are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone, and based on Google trends, the search term “turkey” is most popular in the states of Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Never mind the cartoon visuals, those states consume the most turkeys.

Ever since one of the founders of the Plymouth colony William Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621, it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

Clowns, Cowboys and Sword-wielding Knights

America prospered during the Roaring Twenties and New York City’s Macy’s department store did as well. 

To showcase the opening of the “World’s Largest Store” and its one million square feet of retail space, Macy’s announced the first parade extravaganza by way of multiple full-page newspaper advertisements. 

The iconic department store promised parade-goers “a marathon of mirth” and at 9:00 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, November 27, 1924, at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, the parade attraction took place.

A police escort led the start of parade from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue. A menagerie of animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo—including bears, elephants, camels, and monkeys—offered a circus-like atmosphere as four bands provided the soundtrack to the festive march. 

The six-mile parade, including Macy’s employees dressed as clowns, cowboys and sword-wielding knights, marched from Harlem to Herald Square, arriving at its end in front of Macy’s Herald Square store where 10,000 people cheered Santa.

And The Sublime

The morning following the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an advertisement ensured that Macy’s would stage the parade again the following Thanksgiving. And indeed they did.

“Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths. At whatever straws we must grasp, there is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings.”  J. Robert Moskin

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