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Show EXCEPT the Fourth of July Thanksgiving is the most distinctively dis-tinctively American of all our national holidays. It has not always al-ways been held so late In the year, nor has it always been held everywhere every-where at the same time. Originating Orig-inating in New EDgland it was not observed throughout the country until un-til after the Civil war, when the Presidents, as well as the governors of states, began to issue Thanksgiving Thanks-giving proclamations. Thus it has become a symbol of national unity. The custom of celebrating a Thanksgiving day did not originate with the Pilgrims, though they introduced in-troduced it into this country. For seven days when the harvest was over the Hebrews of the Old Testament Testa-ment held their Feast of Tabernacles, Taberna-cles, a sort of camping out time in memory of their wandering in the .iUnnoca nha Hrpplcs nlsn hnd a festival that began with religious ! rites performed by married women I only, and that ended with a general j banquet and dancing. On October j 4 the Romans kept a similar fes-1 fes-1 tival that they called "Cerealia" in ! honor of Ceres, their goddess of the harvest. Indeed there is in almost every European nation a tradition of a feast to mark the end of the garnering of the crops. In Old England it was called "Harvest Home" and came down from the 'axon period; in Scotland It was Kern" a word that means the last iieaf. The Dutch of Leyden, where he Pilgrims spent ten years before hey came to New England, celebrated cele-brated on October 3 every year a estival to give thanks for their delivery de-livery from the Spaniards in 1 r74 a day that corresponds to our Armistice day. In the Scandinavian churches a special Sunday Is designated des-ignated every fall as Thanksgiving day. Youth's Companion. |