American Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is America's national chow-down feast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty.  ~Michael Dresser

Thanksgiving traditions can vary greatly from family to family, but there are some Thanksgiving traditions that are pretty much universal (or at least for us Americans).  What would Thanksgiving be without the Macy’s day parade, turkey, pumpkin pie, and football?

First thing Thanksgiving morning it is an absolute must that you tune into the Macy’s day parade.  I personally love to watch while I’m still in my pajamas with Oreo’s and milk.  This Thanksgiving tradition started in1924.  The original parade was put on by store employees and went from 145^th St. in Harlem to the flagship Macy’s store on 34^th St.  It included floats, professional bands, and live animals borrowed from the central park zoo.  At the end of the first parade and every parade since Santa Clause was welcomed at Herald square (maybe getting us ready for Black Friday shopping).

Turkey is of course a staple on Thanksgiving, by far the biggest, most important Thanksgiving tradition of all.  Whether you bake it, deep fry it, roast it, or buy it pre-cooked and microwave it, you have to have it.  What would Thanksgiving be without turkey?  And of course along with turkey comes the wish bone.  In case you don’t know how it works.  Two people each take onside of the wish bone and pull it apart.  Whoever gets the larger piece gets to make a wish, and of course the wish will come true as long as you don’t tell anyone.

I never eat pumpkin pie except on Thanksgiving; I feel it is my patriotic duty to have a slice with a little whip cream after Thanksgiving dinner.  Once the settlers were introduced to pumpkin, by the Native Americans and they discovered the many ways it could be used; they started using it in all kinds of dishes both sweet and savory.  Luckily someone thought to make it into a pie and an American Thanksgiving tradition was born. 

Macy’s day parade, turkey, and pumpkin pie the only thing missing from my list is Football.  From listening to the games before dinner while your still cooking and putting the last touches on things, to after dinner when your stuffed and lounging on the couch; football is an all day Thanksgiving tradition.  It get’s especially interesting when you have part of the family rooting for one team and the other have rooting for the other.  There can some pretty funny trash talking going on.

These are some of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions and I couldn’t imagine Thanksgiving without any of them.  What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?