Hi. Just been reading the Thanksgiving thread and it seems quite a lovely time. We don't have thanksgiving over here in Scotland. How long do you celebrate it for, and do businesses close? Is thanksgiving bigger than Christmas for you?

Thanksgiving Day is always on a Thursday. Most businesses are closed on the Thursday (although more and more are staying open), and many NON-RETAIL businesses are also closed on the following Friday.

For merchants, the Friday after Thanksgiving is invariably the busiest day of the year; with some stores opening at 6 am to start the Christmas sales.

For most Americans, the excesses of Christmas FAR exceed the excesses of Thanksgiving.

Thanks Paul. Does that mean that people are on this board today when its thanksgiving. I thought maybe they wouldn't have bothered

It's probably the biggest holiday for
most because of the 4 day weekend,
travel and family.

You've no doubt seen it, but the movie
"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" with
John Candy and Steve Martin is a
must-watch for me every Thanksgiving.

Do you have family for Christmas just the same or is Thanksgiving a bigger family time? It is today, isn't it?

Yes, today is Thanksgiving. The
Wednesday before and the Sunday
after are almost always the busiest
travel days of the year. Christmas
is, of course, also a very huge
holiday with much travel - but not
everyone is Christian and it is more
difficult to travel long distances
if it falls midweek.

Aloha Tammy-
Thanksgiving is really a family holiday-where by family I mean all those people who you love and consider your family, not just the traditional type. Typically, you travel back to mom's house and all the realatives sit down to a big meal. Many eat this meal in the middle of the day, then laze around the house watching football games on TV, or perhaps play games or go for a hike. Almost all businesses close, thought the supermarkets have been remaining open for at least part of the day in recent years. The food centers around turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing/dressing, cranberry sauce, and lots of pies for dessert. The side dishes vary by region. In california, you find green salads and fresh vegetables. In middle America Nebraska you might find wild rice ,or Jello salads, and in Hawaii, we have steamed rice, sushi, and other Asian dishes.
It is a nice holiday in that is centers being together with those you love and the joy of eating. I prefer it to Chrismas where you have all the pressure of gifts and things.

We celebrate Thanksgiving on one day-Thursday, but we eat the dinner (leftovers) -for weeks Thanksgiving is not bigger for us than Christmas, but this year with all the sad things that have happened, I think Thanksgiving has much more meaning to a lot of us.M

Thanksgiving is always special because families reunite and remember what all we have to be thankful for. The school children will always remind us with their "Art" that the first Thanksgiving meal was the pilgrams and Indians celebrating how the pilgrams learned much about planting and survival from the Indians. Many pilgrams did not make it thru the first few hostile winters in their new land.

And don't forget about the high school football games. Many teams in New England have been playing each other for decades and big rivalries exist. Its a great time for a community to get together. Generally games are in the morning, many towns have pancake breakfasts to kick things off. After the game everyone goes home to their big turkey feast. My hometown just won their game yestday and that makes them undefeated for the year!!!

Thanksgiving is as big as Christmas just in a differnet sense- it crosses all races and religions in the US. It's a one day celebration to be with family, enjoy deliciously cooked food (usually a big turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple cider, squash soup, green beans, stuffing, fruit, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie, etc.) and remember what you are thankful for- simply, that you are home safe with family and that you are lucky enough to have a hot meal cooked in front of you. The day after is a HUGE shopping day and sort of the kick off to the Christmas holiday. Thanksgiving is truly a wonderful, memorable holdiday!