Thanksgiving Canada
History of First Canadian Thanksgiving
The initial Thanksgiving in the country was marked on 15th April 1872 as people were grateful after their King Edward VII health was restored. Only 1879 became the year of the following thanksgiving. It was Thursday.
The history of the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday was rather intricate. Between 1879 and 1898 it was marked on a Thursday in November. Till 1904 it was marked on a Thursday in October. Than the holiday shifted to a Monday of the same month.
During the period of 1921-1931 Thanksgiving was celebrated on 'Armistice Day'.
Only on January 31, 1957 appeared the last decision of the Parliament concerning the holiday which was proclaimed the state "Thanksgiving Day" which would be marked on the second Monday of October. It became "a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed."
Canadian Thanksgiving Celebration
The thanksgiving festival consists of parades, traditional 'family feast' and 'turkey'. This is the best opportunity for people to spend time together, demonstrating the deepest feeling towards each other. The most important purpose is to be grateful for the obtained crop and ask the God to give in the next summer not worse one.
So it is the second Monday of Canada that was chosen as Thanksgiving day. If we look through the process of this holiday development we will find three other customs that lie in the basis of it.
The agricultural workers in Europe organized special fiestas in the autumn as they were grateful for the rich crop and the possibility to survive during the most severe season of the year. They put some meat and bread and grain, etc. into the goat's horn and used it a decoration of the Thanksgiving table. It was called a cornucopia or horn of plenty.
When the newcomers from Europe appeared in Canada they didn't forget their old customs, this one among others. We can see many features of it in the manner we mark the Thanksgiving at present.
Martin Frobisher, a famous sailor, whose name is saved in the title of one of the bays in Canada, effected somehow the celebration of the holiday. Frobisher arrived in 1578 in Newfoundland. He organized a fiesta to reveal their gratitude to God who helped the sailors to save their lives during the difficult journey to the New World. This became a tradition with the newcomers.