Thursday nov.22nd was Thanksgiving Day, a very special day in this country.
Traditionally, it's a day for big-city toyland parades, a day for special football games, a day for the family to gather and celebrate with a turkey dinner and, most important of all, a day for all Americans to give thanks to our creator for our many special blessings.
While there are certainly individuals who take the time to give thanks every day throughout their lives, for most of us, there is just that one special 24-hour period each year: the fourth Thursday in November.
But ther have been exceptions.
I can remember one November when I experienced a Thanksgiving Day holiday that lasted only about nine minutes.
And there was another one lasted nearly two full days.
While this seems like a scenario taken from "The Outer Limits" TV show, it has a very rational explanation.
On Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1952, I was onboard a troop transport, along with 3,000 other U.S. Marines, in the middle of the Pacfic Ocean en route to Korea.
At precisely 11:51 that night, our ship crossed the International Date Line. Instantly, it became one full day later.
It was suddenly 11:51 on Thursday, Nov. 27 --- Thanksgiving Day.
But in only nine short minutes, it would become Friday, Nov. 28. All of us aboard that ship had exactly nine minutes to officially celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
While we would still be served a meal of roast turkey and all the usual trimmings, it was the shortest Thanksgiving Day holiday we would ever experience.
The following year, 1953, aboard another transport ship and sailing in the opposite direction en route home to the United States, the same situation occurred ------ in reverse.
On Thursday, Nov. 26, we would spend a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. For all of us, it was the perfect time to give thanks. We had survived relatively unscathed during a year of war that had seen many of our friends killed or maimed and we were returning home in time to celebrate Christmas with our families.
At about 10 p.m., we recrossed the International Date line ------ this time heading eastward ------- and at that exact moment, it became Wednesday, Nov. 25, a full day earlier.
In another two hours, in the area where our ship was situated, it would again be Thursday, Nov. 26, and Thanksgiving Day would be starting all over for us.
That year, all of us onboard would have two Thanksgiving Days (with two turkey dinners), and returning home safely from war was certainly the proper time for that to occur.
As strange as all this seems, it gets even more weird.
A little more than a decade earlier (and for two consecutive years), the entire state of Pennsylvania actually celebrated two separate Thanksgiving Day holidays only a week apart.
In 1939, with the Great Depression slowly drawing to a close, President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to spark the American economy by extending the Christmas shopping season by a week.
In a break with a 76-year-old tradition which had been instituted by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, he would move the Thanksgiving holiday up a week from the fourth to the third Thursday in November.
Roosevelt 's actions were not generally greeted with enthusiasm in Pennsylvania, where Gov. Arthur James (a Republican) decreed that contrary to the president's wishes (Roosevelt was a Democrat), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would continue to officially observe Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of the month.
In 1940, when the new date officially went into effect, there was a great deal of confusion in the areas of Pennsylvania that border our neighboring states ---- New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York, West Virginia and Ohio.
In all these other states, Roosevelt's new date was being grudgingly but officially observed, and nearlyall businesses were closed. But in Pennsylvania, with the exception of banks, most stores and businesses were open as usual.
Employees who lived in bordering states (where it was officially a holiday) still had to report to their jobs in Pennsylvania. Most local governments also were open, as were the post offices (although there was no mail delivery). In Harrisburg, all state offices, except the Democratic-controlled state treasury, were open. Newspapers that traditionally did not publish on Thanksgiving Day went to press that day.
The next Thursday, Nov. 27, in keeping with the governor's dictate, businesses throughout Pennsylvania were closed, as were the banks for the second straight Thursday.
Yet businesses in the bordering states were open and the mail was delivered. In Philadelphia, the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade brought Santa Claus to town, and the majority of Pennsylvania families gathered for their Thanksgiving feast ----- some for the second time in a week. Some Pennsylvania residents actually celebrated both holidays. That day, as on previous Thanksgivings, many newspapers throughout the state did not go to press.
The following year, 1941, Roosevelt still insisted on his earlier Thanksgiving Date ----- and the confusion continued.
Although there was escalating tension between the United States and Japan (the attack on Pearl Harbor was less than three weeks away), the critical talks between the Japanese peace delegates in Washington and the U.S. Secretary of State were postponed for the Roosevelt -dictated holiday.
In Pennsylvania, the same situation prevailed as had ocurred the previous year. But by now, there was a national groundswell of resentment against the earlier celebration.
In April, Congressman Earl Michener of Michigan would introduce a joint resolution declaring the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. The Senate would then amend the resolution changing the word "last" to read "fourth" and the resolution would go into effect in 1942.
From that point on, Thanksgiving Day has officially remained the fourth Thursday in November.
This year's date, Nov.22, is the earliest date on which the holiday can fall.
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