by Wesley Harris
In 1941, just days before America was pulled into World War II, Lincoln Parish celebrated Thanksgiving on the third Thursday in November.
And seven days later, the community celebrated Thanksgiving all over again. Why?
Thanksgiving has been observed on various dates from the time of the Founding Fathers until Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in 1863. Lincoln set Thanksgiving by proclamation for the final Thursday in November. For the next 75 years, most communities settled on that date as the time to feast and give thanks for the blessings of the past year.
On October 31, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a proclamation changing the holiday to the next to last Thursday in November. The change came at the urging of the business world. The president said the idea sounded “silly” but decided to defer to the merchants, the Associated Press reported.
Today, merchants put up Christmas decorations before Halloween, but in the 1930s, promotions of the holiday shopping season never began until after Thanksgiving. Setting the earlier date added more shopping days to the season, presumably boosting retail sales. Shoppers did not start their Christmas buying until after Thanksgiving and in the 1940s, advertising Christmas sales before then would have spurred severe backlash.
The proclamation wreaked havoc on the holiday schedules of families, schools, and businesses, and many Americans were not in favor of the change. In a nation steeped in tradition, now even the holiday of Thanksgiving was thrown into turmoil and widespread confusion due to the presidential decision aimed at boosting the economy.
Americans were split by the quandary. While some states heeded Roosevelt’s call to celebrate on the second-to-last Thursday in November, many others refused to abandon tradition and held Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of the month as usual. The result was a patchwork of Thanksgiving dates that divided the country and sowed confusion for families and businesses alike. By 1940, 23 states celebrated on Roosevelt’s new early date, while 22 held firm to the traditional date. Three states opted to celebrate both dates, which only added to the confusion.
In 1941, the local newspaper reported, “The difficulties facing the good people of Ruston and vicinity began several years ago when precedent-breaking President Roosevelt took his royal prerogative between his teeth and moved Thanksgiving Day up one week from the last Thursday in November to the third Thursday in November. The original reason for the change was supposed to increase the length of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, thereby giving the merchants a break with more shopping time for the buyers between holidays.”
The paper explained the problem. “This year in Ruston, something went wrong. Ever since the change was made, there has been dispute, some observing one Thanksgiving and some the other . . . Members of the retail merchants association cussed and discussed the situation and finally decided, with some reservations, to celebrate the 20th,” but as the editor reported, Louisiana Tech and public schools chose the 27th as Thanksgiving.
Louisiana‘s governor, Sam Jones, designated Thursday, November 20, 1941, as Thanksgiving, conforming with the earlier date designated by President Roosevelt. But Louisiana Tech had already set its annual calendar with the 27th as the Thanksgiving holiday. Tech had an afternoon football game scheduled with Centenary College for the 27th so its Thanksgiving holiday was scheduled to correspond with the annual holiday game tradition.
The Lincoln Parish School Board designated November 27 as Thanksgiving to conform with Tech’s schedule. The Ruston High Bearcats were undefeated as the holiday approached and the Bearcats were vying for a state championship with a big game slated for the 28th so 27th was the better day for the holiday.
But the majority of Ruston merchants decided to observe November 20 as set by Roosevelt and Jones, giving them an extra week to peddle their wares before Christmas. According to the Shreveport Times, most people in Ruston and Lincoln Parish celebrated both days.
So Ruston and Lincoln Parish bucked the majority of the state by utilizing the earlier date for the Thanksgiving like businesses in Monroe and other cities did.
The secretary of the Monroe-West Monroe Chamber of Commerce told the media Twin Cities merchants were closing on 20th. George Holland said a Congressional proclamation setting the last Thursday in November as the holiday date beginning in 1942 had led to even more confusion on top of the President’s proclamation.
To the president’s disappointment, the anticipated economic boost never materialized. The disarray of having two Thanksgiving dates proved to be a logistical nightmare for retailers, schools, businesses, and families, with many reporting lackluster sales regardless of the extra week. Criticism mounted from traditionalists, and Roosevelt’s move was widely lampooned in the media and public discourse.
So, for at least one year, those in Ruston and Lincoln Parish feasted twice in two weeks while lifting prayers and giving double thanks for their blessings and good fortune. Those prayers would increase ten days later when military bases at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were bombed, bringing America into a global conflict and seeing hundreds of local men die over the next four years.
