My co-conspirators always answer with a wink, "It's a National Holiday, Poppy!"
And THAT'S when I grill them:
"If it is, indeed, a NATIONAL holiday, not religious, then WHO exactly is it that we are giving 'thanks' unto? Perhaps, Our President?"
upon further research, we all find out:
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
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