0:00 Who are you? [music] And where are you going? [music] What do you want? Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Way to Wow shows for, pardon me, the Thanksgiving holiday 2025. So Thanksgiving is actually tomorrow. Uh but uh I'm I'm as I do sometimes I do the show the day before so you can be
0:35 enjoying the holiday with family and friends and uh enjoying those those great Thanksgiving traditions like watching football and the I Love Lucy marathon. So uh the year seemed to zoom by. There's a little over a month left and and here we are at uh at at Thanksgiving. I think this is one of the most meaningful holidays in the United States. I think it really gets to the essence of of what this country is is all about. People may say,
1:13 "Well, Independence Day is is more apt in that regard." I I don't agree with that. While it's it's great to celebrate uh America's independence from Great Britain, uh much of America's ability to win her independence came from Americans working together and being grateful for the opportunity that was afforded to them by this
1:49 country. And so when I think of the quintessal American holiday, it it is indeed uh Thanksgiving. And I'm I'm I'm not aware of other countries that have a similar day. Uh now, some people will say, well, you know, every day is Thanksgiving. We should be giving thanks to God every day. And there there is some truth to that. Uh, nonetheless, I think it's valuable to take one day out of the year on which we
2:24 truly focus on being grateful, giving thanks, gathering together with other people to do so. Uh I um in former times I used to do big Thanksgiving meals usually in the kind of mid to late afternoon sometimes as many as 20 people. [clears throat] Um all the food was kosher. So, [laughter] uh, anybody who, you know, kept the Jewish dietary laws, uh, or not anybody, but many many of the people who did, they they came to my house so they could have kosher turkey and, uh, sweet
3:02 potatoes with um, with brown sugar and mini marshmallows and corn chowder with smoked salmon and all those dectable treats. And before I would let them have dessert, I always insisted that we sing a song, America the Beautiful or My Country Tis or or a similar song in recognition that the day was not just about being together with family or eating a lot of great food or even watching football or I Love Lucy, but it was there [clears throat] uh for us to express gratitude. And um
3:40 we always started out the meal with a a prayer of thanksgiving. Um when my friends Cliff and Lori lived in Los Angeles, Cliff is a very um he's an outstanding writer. And Cliff would typically write and and give the Thanksgiving prayer. They were always very moving. And uh so I I encourage uh similar the creation of similar traditions uh as part of your Thanksgiving celebration. So
4:15 [clears throat] as is the case for all the special editions, I like to talk about the history of the day that we're celebrating or in this case we'll be celebrating tomorrow [snorts] and and then do a reading. And so I'm I'm going to talk about the history of Thanksgiving. And the reading for this year is Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of Thanksgiving. [clears throat] Excuse me. Which I I think Abraham Lincoln's speeches are among the most moving uh of of any um American. And so
4:53 hopefully you will you will find it. You will be inspired. Okay. So, [snorts] in the other great fall tradition, I'm I'm a little bit under the weather. So, so the the history of Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a blend of faith, survival, national identity. I think these are some of the ideas that come forward. the uh sort of apocryphal
5:28 first Thanksgiving in 1621 with the the pilgrims and the Wanong Indians uh took place at Plymouth Colony in what is now the state of Massachusetts. The settlers had um endured a hazardous voyage aboard aboard the Mayflower and had celebrated their uh first successful harvest with a 3-day festival. They were joined by members of the Wapanong Wampaong tribe um led by Chief Masasoyet
6:06 who brought food who shared agricultural knowledge and had helped the pilgrims adapt uh to the local environment. It it may sound strange in light of the future history between um uh colonists and uh Indians or what what are often known as Native Americans. Uh but at this point in history, uh the Wapanong uh sorry I'm saying it wrong. the Wanog um uh did not view the colonists as a
6:42 threat and uh help them in their struggle to survive. So um the this this g this 3-day gathering which included not just eating but there were games and and um other amusements. Um I this is really the the source of the term thanksgiving. Um although the term uh was not used it it was not referred to as Thanksgiving day. Uh it it was a
7:17 day to express gratitude to God and and and so that's where the idea of a thanksgiving uh came. Um the uh kind of the historical context of of it was the first winter had been very brutal. uh nearly half of the original colonists had died through disease or malnutrition and uh it was only really through the assistance and alliance with the Wanog um that the colonies survived and and so
7:54 um this was a a a shared harvest of of gratitude, cooperation and and hope. um would that those uh those sentiments uh you know continued for the next uh 400 years. So um early colonial thanksgivings um during the period of of the Puritans greatest influence in the United States 17th century 1600s. So the settlers in New England were Puritans. They frequently uh declared
8:31 small d days of small tea thanksgiving to mark specific events, the end of droughts, military victories, successful harvests. Um these occasions were primarily religious and they emphasized prayer and fasting and reflection uh rather than large feasts. And it it it's it's it's interesting that uh the the contrast in practices between the Puritans who were looking to strip down religious observance to kind of its bare bones as opposed to what you would
9:08 see uh among uh Jews for example where um holidays that have an aspect of Thanksgiving to them always include uh food and and uh not not dancing in those kinds of merrymaking but uh getting together with family, relatives, members of one's community, uh sharing good food, good drink, etc. So um the the early Thanksgivings reinforced the Puritan sense of communal identity and uh spiritual dependence
9:45 dependence on God for their survival and they they really intertwined gratitude with their religious observances. So the during the revolutionary era now on into the 18th century and the first national Thanksgiving uh it was declared by the Continental Congress in 1777 and it was to celebrate the the patriots victory at the battle of Saratoga.
10:20 And um during this period too um there was no particular set schedule of Thanksgiving observances. Um they were sort of declared when uh Congress thought they were appropriate. Um and they they reflected moments of national importance um rather than a a fixed uh holiday. So, in [snorts] if if you saw last
10:56 year's Thanksgiving uh special, so uh George Washington made a Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789. It was the first national proclamation of Thanksgiving. uh and uh it was when George Washington was president and the it w the proclamation was issued on November 26th, 1789 and it he called for a day of thanksgiving and prayer and it was uh it it was an expression of gratitude for
11:32 the successful establishment of the US Constitution and uh essentially the formation of a government for the newly independent colonies and the blessings afforded to this fledgling nation. So um even at this point though uh Thanksgiving was not an annual tradition. um presidents, subsequent presidents um from time to time issued proclamations of Thanksgiving um but there again there was no set national date. So the
12:10 campaign for uh a national holiday uh was waged by a woman named Sarah uh Joseph Hail. So she was a remarkable figure in the 19th century, the 1800s. uh best known as the mother of Thanksgiving for having waged a what ended up being successful uh decadesl long campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. So Sarah Hail was born on October 24, 1788 in Newport, New
12:50 Hampshire, not Rhode Island, Newport, New Hampshire. uh she was largely taught an avid reader and she began writing poetry and essays at a young age and her literary is uh interest shaped her career and her influence on American culture. So in 1813 uh Sarah well she was Sarah Josepha originally Sarah Josepha married uh David Hail and they had five children. Now that wasn't the eyepopping number
13:26 back then that it is now. uh and despite um many personal challenges including the death of two of her children which again unfortunately was not uh uncommon uh especially in the early 19th century. Uh she continued her literary pursuits. So she was as I mentioned a moment ago a poet and a writer, a prolific poet and author. She published collections of poetry, novels, advice books aimed particularly at women and families. Uh she edited a magazine called Goodies
14:03 Ladies Book. It was one of the most influential women's magazines of the 19th century and she was editor for 40 years from 1837 to 1877. And under her leadership, the magazine expanded to reach a national audience. She promoted education, moral instruction, and what were called domestic arts. These were things like cookery, what they called cookery, cooking, sewing, those those in other words, the the skills that were
14:40 necessary in order to create a warm and loving home. She championed women writers and artists and she and and through goodies ladies books she gave them a prominent platform. So her as a as as an advocate for a national Thanksgiving holiday. Hail believed that a unified national holiday would foster unity in a divided country. And and if you think about the time period the what what we call sometimes the antibbellum
15:15 period uh which is the pre-Ivil war period there was growing dissension in the United States over the issue of slavery states rights and and other economic and social issues. So, uh, during as part of her campaign, she wrote letters to five US presidents, including William Henry Harrison, uh, Zachary Taylor, Millard Filillmore, Franklin Pierce, and Abraham Lincoln. Uh Lincoln's response in 1863
15:52 during the Civil War was to issue a proclamation establishing the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving fulfilling Hail's vision. And and it was because of her tireless advocacy for this National Day of Thanksgiving that she became known as the mother of thanksgiving. So, uh, other contributions that, uh, Sarah Hail made, um, included education and and women's rights. Uh, she promoted
16:28 public education, um, especially for women. Um, historic preservation. She campaigned to preserve George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, and set a precedent for historic preservation in the United States. and she she had a um extensive literary influence through her writing and editorial work. She shaped American domestic culture and she promoted the ideals of morality, family life and uh what I what she probably would have called civic virtue. Um we tend to think
17:05 of it as civic responsibility. But uh but in any case, this idea that one has a responsibility to one's community. So uh Sarah Joseph Hail died on April 30th, 1879 in uh Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leaving behind uh a a legacy as one of the truly great women of the 19th century. So, as I mentioned a moment ago, Thanksgiving was officially established in 1863
17:40 by Abraham Lincoln. Uh he issued a proclamation which I'm going to read in just a short while declaring the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving and prayer. Uh his intention was to foster unity in what was a badly divided country at war uh between north and south. Uh fostering uh unity, healing, uh gratitude during this tremendously bloody period in American
18:15 history. And it his proclamation laid the foundation for what has become the enduring national holiday that we celebrate tomorrow. In more uh modern times uh mid uh 20th century uh Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November to lengthen the holiday shopping season. a decision that was um widely controversial and dubbed Franks
18:52 Giving. Um and so in 1941, uh Congress officially established Thanksgiving as being on the fourth Thursday in November and cementing Thanksgiving Day's place in the American calendar. So while um early Thanksgiving, small tea Thanksgiving practices centered on prayer and reflection and community gatherings rather than elaborate feasting. Um today, right, we we I think
19:29 we all know many of the traditional elements of of a Thanksgiving celebration. They include a turkey with Swiss stuffing, cranberry sauce. I make my bourbon cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie, pecan pie. Um, all of these became staples over the sort of latter half of the 19th and 20th century. Um, many people have other things. I know I've I've variously served uh venison at a Thanksgiving meal in addition to turkey. For those of you who don't keep kosher, I understand you serve ham uh which I
20:06 understand is delicious. certainly smells good. Um, green beans is another, I think, things Thanksgiving staple. I could sit here and and and you know, uh, yams and sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and I I I could roll off the food. Um, you know, if you watch Jiggers's Place, you know that that that I'm a foodie. Um, another one of the traditions of Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was launched in 1924. So uh 101 years ago this year and it's it's become a symbol of American
20:42 pageantry and f and festivity. People uh holding the lines towing the balloons down uh the street in uh in New York. Uh football has become uh um a a part of Thanksgiving tradition as well, dating back even farther than the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade into the late 1800s. and it remains a part of the holidays uh sort of social fabric. Um and then of course there are the more frivolous which is uh Black Friday which
21:18 is the Friday after Thanksgiving when stores um used to much more officially launch the holiday um uh shopping season. Now nowadays it seems like back black Friday keeps getting starting earlier and earlier uh with pre black Friday sales. So uh you know from its roots in the uh 17th century as a day with a a more religious context to it and and and one
21:54 uh much more involved with with prayer and community. uh to through its uh and and unity with uh Native Americans uh through its uh initial declaration by George Washington, our first president and and then on into the mid 19th century with uh arguably our greatest president declaring it officially a national holiday. um the the mix of religious traditions, feasting, uh cultural events,
22:32 um popular cultural events. Um Thanksgiving remains, I think, a day of the year that Americans to which Americans look forward. Um they they travel to be with family and friends. Um, I've heard reports in the business news over the last few days that this Thanksgiving will see the largest number of travelers ever. Something like, I don't know, 18 million people just flying, not to mention all those driving. I know we as as a child we sometimes drove to various
23:07 places to have Thanksgiving with family and friends. And I, you know, at a time when our country seems to be uh more divisive um than perhaps it was 30 years ago, uh I I I I hope we'll we we will all uh take the opportunity to be thankful uh certainly for the people we love and and with the pe and for the people with whom we agree, but also for for the people that we are struggle to love
23:42 because we disagree with them so vehemently. I I would encourage all to, you know, set aside um political discussions and to join in the uh the um spirit of the day which which is which is gratitude and unity and and celebrating all the things in this country for which we have to be thankful.
24:17 So, I'm going to read uh the transcript for President Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving proclamation from October from 3 October 1863. Okay. By the president of the United States, a proclamation. The year is drawing toward its close. The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and helpful skies. to these bounties which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come. Others have
24:53 been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequal magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations. Order has been maintained. The
25:28 laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theater of military conflict. While that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union, needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as of iron and coal, as
26:03 of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than hereto for. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country. Rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor is permitted to expect continuence of years with large increase of freedom. No human council hath devised nor hath
26:38 any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God who while dealing with us in anger for our sins has nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens
27:14 in every part of the United States and also those who are at sea and those who are sojouring in foreign lands to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while uppering up offering up the obscriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also with humble penitence for
27:52 our national p perverseness and disobedience. Commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourers, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the divine purposes. is to the full enjoyment of
28:28 peace, harmony, tranquility, and union. In testimony whereof, I have here unto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed by done at the city of Washington, the 3rd of October, in the year of our Lord 1,863, and of the independence of the United States, the 88th. Abraham Lincoln by the President William
29:03 H. Seward, Secretary of State. [clears throat and cough] For those of you who are familiar with others of Abraham Lincoln's writings, I think you see either echoes or precursors to speeches that were and proclamations that were made before and after the Gettysburg address, the second inaugural address, the first inaugural address. All of these you you you you can see similar sentiments and you can see President Lincoln's concern for his
29:39 fellow citizens and his great pain at having to to preside over the nation during a time of of such um havoc um where the killing fields sometimes seemed beyond imagination. If we can remember the truly the truly difficult times through which this
30:14 country has come. the reol, the war, the war for independence, the civil war, World War II, the struggle to end slavery, and the struggle for the franchise for more Americans, and how far we've come. Hopefully, we can take at least one day off from
30:49 any feelings of disappointment in our great nation. And remember that for so many people in this world, America is remains a beacon of freedom, liberty, however you would voice it, a place to which they aspire to come and make a better live life, make a better life for themselves and their families.
31:24 This is what we celebrate on Thanksgiving Day in addition to giving thanks to God from whom all things come. And so I'll close by wishing you, your family, your loved ones, friends a very, very happy Thanksgiving, one of meaning, one of unity. And signing off as I always do to my dear one, Marie. You are my bell.
32:01 Courage at all times, my friends.