WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:03.109 The past is full of echoes, but some are quieter 00:00:03.109 --> 00:00:05.790 than others. On What You Didn't Hear, we bring 00:00:05.790 --> 00:00:08.089 those echoes back to life, one forgotten day 00:00:08.089 --> 00:00:10.910 at a time. So settle in as we take a deep dive 00:00:10.910 --> 00:00:13.490 into the history behind the U .S.'s greatest 00:00:13.490 --> 00:00:54.119 national holiday, Thanksgiving. The first national 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:56.420 Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President George 00:00:56.420 --> 00:01:01.200 Washington on Thursday, November 26, 1789, after 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.340 a resolution from the first federal Congress. 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.920 While earlier harvest celebrations like the one 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:09.980 in 1621 are often associated with the holiday, 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.459 Washington's 1789 proclamation was the first 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:15.859 time a day of thanks was set aside for the entire 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:19.200 nation under the new Constitution. in sixteen 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.920 twenty one the pilgrims at plymouth colony and 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.900 the wampanoag people held a harvest feast sometime 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:28.459 between september and mid -november but this 00:01:28.459 --> 00:01:31.019 was not a national holiday and the term thanksgiving 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:34.299 was not used at the time seventeen eighty nine 00:01:34.299 --> 00:01:36.799 the first national thanksgiving took place on 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:39.219 november twenty sixth after george washington 00:01:39.219 --> 00:01:41.780 issued a proclamation in response to the recommendation 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:45.120 for the first federal congress in eighteen sixty 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.769 three Abraham Lincoln would declare Thanksgiving 00:01:47.769 --> 00:01:50.450 a national holiday to be celebrated annually 00:01:50.450 --> 00:01:55.090 on the last Thursday of every November. In 1941, 00:01:55.569 --> 00:01:58.450 Congress passed a resolution, signed into law 00:01:58.450 --> 00:02:01.390 by FDR, officially declaring Thanksgiving to 00:02:01.390 --> 00:02:03.930 be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:06.769 But this is the mainstream history of the U .S. 00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:08.750 holiday and doesn't account for the less known 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:10.909 traditions and practices that have taken place 00:02:10.909 --> 00:02:14.169 on Thanksgiving. For instance, Thanksgiving masking. 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:17.750 what was thanksgiving masking let's begin with 00:02:17.750 --> 00:02:20.750 what it looked like in cities like new york in 00:02:20.750 --> 00:02:22.750 the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:25.550 hundreds on thanksgiving day you would see children 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.330 dressed in ragged adult clothes wearing masks 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:31.169 or smeared faces carrying out through the streets 00:02:31.169 --> 00:02:34.169 asking at doors anything for thanksgiving they 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:37.770 might get apples pennies or candy one archive 00:02:37.770 --> 00:02:40.650 example on november twenty sixth nineteen eleven 00:02:40.650 --> 00:02:44.580 children ran rampant through manhattan Some wore 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.080 garish masks modeled after George Washington 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:50.280 and Uncle Sam. Others smudged their cheeks and 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:54.080 donned rags to look like hobos. The practice 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:57.520 went by names like Thanksgiving Masking or the 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.080 Ragamuffin Parade. The phrase ragamuffin captured 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:04.300 the spirit, children dressing up as poor beggars, 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:06.740 sometimes performing a trick, and sometimes begging 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:09.939 for treats. So while today we associate costumes 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:13.139 and candy with Halloween, in that era thanksgiving 00:03:13.139 --> 00:03:16.340 had its own version of masked mischief why did 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:19.080 this tradition arise several overlapping lines 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:22.719 of history intersect first the idea of masking 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:26.419 and costume begging has long roots in european 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:29.439 folk traditions groups would go door to door 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:33.159 in disguise perform small shows or simply ask 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:36.280 for food and coin especially around harvest time 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:40.240 or winter festivals in the u s in the nineteenth 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.800 century especially in large immigrant populated 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.439 cities thanksgiving was becoming nationally celebrated 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:49.819 after abraham lincoln proclaimed a national thanksgiving 00:03:49.819 --> 00:03:53.180 in eighteen sixty three children in dense neighborhoods 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:56.319 found space and freedom on that holiday to roam 00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:00.039 the ragamuffin aspect children would dress as 00:04:00.039 --> 00:04:02.680 hoboes in tattered clothes or cross -dress and 00:04:02.680 --> 00:04:05.870 wear exaggerated masks both as play and parody 00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:09.509 of poverty and social role reversal for example 00:04:09.509 --> 00:04:12.930 one writer on thanksgiving masking said boys 00:04:12.930 --> 00:04:15.550 frequently wore girls clothing spending their 00:04:15.550 --> 00:04:18.269 afternoons gambolling in awkward mimicry of their 00:04:18.269 --> 00:04:22.490 sisters the custom also had an economic element 00:04:22.490 --> 00:04:26.389 after the harvest and before cold winter there 00:04:26.389 --> 00:04:29.449 was more food and socially sanctioned ways to 00:04:29.449 --> 00:04:31.810 redistribute small amounts to children or the 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:35.420 needy were culturally acceptable thus thanksgiving 00:04:35.420 --> 00:04:38.699 masking can be seen as part carnival part ritual 00:04:38.699 --> 00:04:43.319 redistribution and part children's misrule it 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.459 could be rowdy one article said thousands upon 00:04:46.459 --> 00:04:49.060 thousands of children kept in the open air for 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:52.759 hours blasting horns riding horses and generally 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:55.459 enjoying themselves to the limit of their temporary 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:59.540 freedom the custom extended into early twentieth 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:03.199 century but in many places it faded out mid -20th 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:05.920 century as Halloween took over and city authorities 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.420 discouraged the disorder. As Halloween became 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:12.600 more commercialized and expanded, the niche of 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.459 Thanksgiving costume begging diminished. One 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:18.100 scholar argues that Thanksgiving masking was 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:21.399 a missing link between older European mask begging 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:25.319 and modern trick -or -treat. During the Great 00:05:25.319 --> 00:05:27.699 Depression, the idea of children masquerading 00:05:27.699 --> 00:05:30.449 as poor beggars seemed less appropriate. when 00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:33.790 actual poverty was widespread newspaper pieces 00:05:33.790 --> 00:05:35.910 in the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties 00:05:35.910 --> 00:05:39.250 began to criticize the custom as cities grew 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:41.449 controlling the street mischief and children 00:05:41.449 --> 00:05:44.769 roaming became more important the rise of organized 00:05:44.769 --> 00:05:47.410 events like the macy's day thanksgiving parade 00:05:47.410 --> 00:05:50.949 starting in nineteen twenty four gave a more 00:05:50.949 --> 00:05:54.870 official face to thanksgiving Though the custom 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:58.230 faded, it helped shape the idea of children costumed 00:05:58.230 --> 00:06:00.790 and visiting neighbors for treats, a concept 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:03.250 that would flourish at Halloween. So Thanksgiving 00:06:03.250 --> 00:06:06.129 masking quietly influenced one of the most popular 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:10.589 traditions we see today. Also, it reminds us 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:13.529 that our holiday practices are not static. They 00:06:13.529 --> 00:06:17.029 shift, they fade, and they get replaced, or get 00:06:17.029 --> 00:06:21.680 absorbed into other celebrations. That's all 00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.160 I have on this brief, special episode of What 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.360 You Didn't Hear About Thanksgiving. I hope you 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:28.379 have a wonderful Thanksgiving day filled with 00:06:28.379 --> 00:06:31.199 great food and family or friends. As always, 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.360 thank you for listening. If you would like to 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:35.740 help my podcast grow, please leave a review on 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:37.759 whatever podcast platform you're listening on 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.980 and share with your history buff friends and 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.459 family. Thank you for joining, and until next 00:06:42.459 --> 00:06:46.560 time, this is What You Didn't Hear. Happy Thanksgiving.