Thanksgiving is a form of harvest festival. However, Thanksgiving
as I know it goes far beyond the celebration of a good harvest. Many people
focus on the gratitude for the blessings they have received all year.
Today, in the United States, many celebrate Columbus Day—or Indigenous
Peoples Day, depending on preference. However, today in Canada, it is Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving
(Action de grâce in French) is an annual Canadian holiday to celebrate the
harvest is held on the second Monday in
October. The objective is to celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the
past year. It has officially celebrated as an annual holiday in Canada since
November 6, 1879. The date was not set for years, but today, it is held on the
second Monday in October.
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Martin Frobisher
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Some historians give the first celebration of Thanksgiving
in North America as having taken place during the 1579 voyage of Martin
Frobisher from England. He was searching for the Northwest Passage. In 1604,
French settlers who crossed to Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain also
held feasts of thanks. They formed the “Order of Good Cheer” and held feasts
with their First Nations neighbours, with whom they shared food.
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Order of Good Cheer by C.W. Jeffries
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“We spent this winter very pleasantly, and had
good fare by means of the Order of Good Cheer which I established, and which
everybody found beneficial to his health, and more profitable than all sorts of
medicine we might have used.” – Samuel de Champlain, The Voyages, 1613.
At the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763, New France ended
up in the control of the British. The citizens of Halifax held a special day of
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but not every
year. Upper and Lower Canada often observed Thanksgiving at different times,
often celebrating different events. It was not until 1879, when Thanksgiving
was declared a holiday, it was celebrated in either late October or early
November, initially on a Thursday in November.
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| Canadian troops attend a Thanksgiving Mass in the bombed-out Cambrai Cathedral, France, in October 1918. |
After World War 1, it was combined with
the Armistice Day commemoration. In 1931, the two days became separate holidays.
Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day, and Thanksgiving was celebrated on
the second Monday in October.
Happy Thanksgiving, my Canadian neighbors (or neighbours)!
We still have over a month before it is time to celebrate
the United States holiday of Thanksgiving. There will be a multitude of blog
posts between now and the fourth Thursday in November regarding the holiday, so
I will not cover it at this time.
What I will say is, I am grateful I chose to write two
Thanksgiving-themed American historical romances this year. Although one
features an American family of German immigrants and the other characters whose
families have been in the United States for generations, both have several
points in common: gratitude for God, family, freedoms we take for granted that
were not always available in other lands, and (of course) romance.
Today is release day for my second Thanksgiving romance, LovingLila, Book 1 in the Thanksgiving Brides series. To find the book
description and purchase link, please CLICK HERE.
My other Thanksgiving romance published this year is Bee Sting
Cake by Brunhilde, Book 12 in the Old Timey Holiday Kitchen series. To
find the book description and purchase link, please CLICK HERE.
