Thanksgiving is one of the few distinctly American holidays. It commemorates the feast that the Pilgrims of Plymouth, America's first colony, thankful for a plentiful harvest, shared with the Native Americans in 1621, near the end of their first year in America. The Pilgrims were English people who fled to America to escape persecution and find a place to freely practice their religion, which held some extreme beliefs.

  There is some controversy around the history of Thanksgiving, for we all know the tragic fate of the Native Americans. But at its core, the holiday is a celebration of gratitude for family and friends and life's blessings, including the blessing of food. It was declared a national holiday in 1863, during the American Civil War by President Lincoln, to lift the spirits of Americans suffering through the long war.

  The symbol of Thanksgiving is the wild turkey, which is native to the eastern United States. Turkey was eaten at the first Thanksgiving feast, as well as at Thanksgiving meals today. Other foods eaten by the Pilgrims at that first feast were fish, lobster, clams, duck, deer, corn, dried fruit, beans, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, and pumpkin. These days, in addition to turkey, families eat stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn on the cob, beans, salads, and pumpkin pie.

  A popular Thanksgiving tradition is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which is viewed live or on television by millions of Americans. The first Macy's Parade was held in 1924. Macy's department store employees, many of whom were European immigrants, started the parade to mimic the traditional Christmas festivals of their homelands. The employees marched through New York City dressed as clowns, cowboys, knights, and sheiks. There were floats, bands, and live zoo animals. 250, 000 people watched the first Macy's Parade.

  From the 1927 parade, helium character balloons became an important parade tradition. Parade balloons became larger and more elaborate each year. The introduction of Disney characters, and Superman paved the way for future pop culture icon balloons to be added to the parade, like Snoopy, Underdog, Big Bird, Pikachu, and Ask Jeeves. The parade started being broadcast on national TV in the 1950s, with more and more stars joining the parade over the years, such as Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera. These days the parade route goes from W 77th Street to 34th Street, passing through Times Square. The parade always ends with Santa Claus on his sled, ushering in the Christmas season.

Auntie Liz