Fun Thanksgiving History. These days the American holiday is locked in as the 4th Thursday of November. However, before the 1940s, it was traditionally the last Thursday, which was normally the 4th but sometimes there was a 5th Thursday.

In 1939, November had a 5th Thursday, and President Roosevelt opted to declare the day (there was no law it was just a traditional declaration back then) on the 4th Thursday. This was done because major shopping centers wanted a longer gap between Turkey Day and Christmas, allowing for maximum shopping times.

The declaration led to several states refusing to move the date and decrying Roosevelt's earlier date as "Franksgiving." This led to 1939 having a patchwork of states holding the holiday on different dates. The issue repeated in 1940 and eventually saw FDR and Congress work on a formalizing of the date.

I wrote much more about the sage here https://mcimaps.substack.com/p/thanksgiving-2025-issue-looking-back