Ever wonder why you’re wrestling with a twenty-pound bird on a random Thursday in November instead of a relaxing Saturday? It feels a bit inconvenient. Most of us get Friday off anyway, creating that glorious four-day weekend, but the midweek start is a weirdly specific American tradition. If you’ve ever sat around the table wondering why is Thanksgiving on Thursday, the answer isn't just one thing. It's a messy mix of religious fasting, colonial stubbornness, and a very stressed-out Abraham Lincoln.
Basically, it wasn't always this way. In the early days of the colonies, "thanksgivings" weren't annual parties with football and pie. They were somber, religious events called by local leaders whenever something good happened—like winning a battle or surviving a drought. Because these were church-heavy affairs, the timing had to work around the existing religious calendar.
The New England Puritan Logic
The Pilgrims and Puritans were a bit picky about their schedule. They absolutely loathed the idea of "holy days" like Christmas or Easter because they felt those were man-made inventions without enough scriptural backing. However, they loved a good day of prayer.
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Why Thursday? It was a process of elimination. Sunday was the Sabbath, and you couldn't do anything "extra" on the Sabbath. Friday was a day of fasting in the Catholic tradition, and since the Puritans were trying to distance themselves from anything remotely Catholic, Friday was a hard no. Saturday was spent preparing for the Lord’s Day. Monday and Tuesday were often busy with travel or markets.
Then there were the "Lectures." In colonial New England, ministers usually held a midweek lecture on Thursday afternoons. Since people were already heading into town for the sermon, it made sense to tack the Thanksgiving celebration onto the same day. It was efficient. It was practical. It was very New England.
Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb," is actually the reason we have a national holiday at all. For 36 years, she nagged governors and presidents to make it official. Before her crusade, the South barely celebrated it, and every state just picked whatever date they felt like. In 1817, New York officially adopted it as an annual custom, but other states weren't so sure. Hale saw a national Thanksgiving as a way to heal the country’s growing divisions. She finally got through to Lincoln in 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War.
Lincoln, the Civil War, and the Final Thursday
When Abraham Lincoln issued the 1863 proclamation, he set the date as the last Thursday of November. He wanted a sense of national unity during a time when the country was literally tearing itself apart. He didn't invent the Thursday tradition, but he cemented it. By choosing the end of November, he was likely leaning into the "harvest" theme while sticking to the established New England precedent.
But wait. There was a weird glitch in the 1930s.
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During the Great Depression, specifically in 1939, November had five Thursdays. Retailers were terrified. They told President Franklin D. Roosevelt that if Thanksgiving stayed on the last Thursday (November 30), the Christmas shopping season would be too short. Remember, this was before people started putting up trees in October. Back then, you didn't shop for Christmas until after the turkey was gone.
Roosevelt, trying to jumpstart the economy, moved it up a week to the fourth Thursday. People lost their minds.
The "Franksgiving" Chaos
People were genuinely angry. Schools had already set their football schedules. Calendars were already printed. Half the country ignored the President and celebrated on the 30th anyway. For a couple of years, some states celebrated on the "Democratic" date (the 4th Thursday) and others on the "Republican" date (the last Thursday). It was a mess.
- Some governors refused to recognize the change.
- Families were split on when to meet.
- It became a political talking point used against FDR.
Eventually, Congress had to step in and play parent. In 1941, they passed a law making it official: Thanksgiving would always be the fourth Thursday of November. This was a compromise. It ensured the holiday would never fall later than November 28, keeping the retailers happy, but it kept the Thursday tradition alive to satisfy the traditionalists.
Why Not Just Move it to a Monday?
We moved most other holidays. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 shifted Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Washington's Birthday to Mondays so federal employees could have three-day weekends. Yet, Thanksgiving stayed put.
Honestly, the Thursday start is a huge part of the American economic engine now. Black Friday is a global phenomenon that relies entirely on that Thursday gap. If Thanksgiving were on a Monday, the "shopping holiday" would look completely different. We’ve collectively decided as a culture that the four-day weekend is worth the awkwardness of a midweek holiday. Plus, it gives you a "buffer day" on Friday to recover from the food coma before the weekend even starts.
There’s also the sports angle. The NFL has played on Thanksgiving since its inception. The Detroit Lions started the tradition in 1934 to boost attendance, and the Dallas Cowboys joined in 1966. These games are baked into the Thursday identity. Moving the day would mess with decades of broadcasting contracts and stadium logistics.
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Making the Most of the Thursday Tradition
Knowing the history doesn't make the cooking any easier, but it does explain why our calendar looks the way it does. It’s a leftover relic of 17th-century religious lectures and 1930s retail anxiety.
To handle the Thursday schedule like a pro, you’ve gotta lean into the "prep" mentality that the Puritans actually practiced. Start your heavy prep on Tuesday. Brine the turkey on Wednesday. If you’re traveling, try to leave on Tuesday night; Wednesday is statistically the worst traffic day of the year in the U.S.
If you're hosting, remember that the "Fourth Thursday" rule means the date changes every year. Check your calendar for the next few years to see if it hits early (like November 22) or late (November 28). That seven-day swing makes a massive difference in how rushed the Christmas season feels.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Thanksgiving
- Audit your calendar early: Note whether it's an "early" or "late" Thanksgiving to plan your holiday shopping budget.
- Respect the "Friday Recovery": Don't schedule anything for the Friday after. The Thursday tradition works because Friday is the unofficial buffer.
- Prep the "Puritan Way": Use the Wednesday before as your dedicated prep day so you aren't stuck in the kitchen for 12 hours straight on Thursday.
- Shop before the "Franksgiving" rush: Retailers still push sales earlier when Thanksgiving falls late in the month; watch for price drops in mid-November.