NOVEMBER 23, 1939 - "FRANKSGIVING"

President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday in 1789.  In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln codified the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving, to be commemorated each year.

In 1939, the last Thursday fell on the last day of the month, November 30.  Because the United States was in the final years of the Great Depression, business leaders in the United States were concerned that Americans wouldn’t start holiday shopping until after Thanksgiving, so they lobbied President Franklin D. Roosevelt to make Thanksgiving one week earlier, on November 23, 1939, the second to last Thursday of the month.  Roosevelt announced the change on August 15 by executive proclamation.

The short-notice change in dates affected the holiday plans of millions of Americans and led to much uproar and protest.  The date change affected college football teams who routinely ended their seasons on Thanksgiving with rivalry games with full stadiums and caused problems for calendar makers.  

After much upheaval and protest, Roosevelt was called an impulsive, "power-mad tyrant." Some states agreed to celebrate the November 23 holiday, but would call it “Franksgiving”  in Franklin's honor.  The Battle of Turkey was on and states were split on when to celebrate Thanksgiving – 22 states went along with Roosevelt, 23 refused and two states (Texas and Colorado) observed both dates.  Mississippi never decided.  Two years later, in 1941, Congress declared the fourth Thursday in November as the legal Thanksgiving Day.