Is this the beginning of the end for Thanksgiving?

Hi neighbors. Many of you have heard me complain over the years about the impending demise of Thanksgiving. This year the first nail went into the coffin of my most beloved holiday. Several large retail chains have decided to ignore the long-held tradition of postponing Christmas sales until the week after Thanksgiving.

Within the last few decades, merchants have pushed the curtain nearer and nearer the so-called non-profit holiday of Thanksgiving. The official Christmas shopping frenzy has started the Friday after Thanksgiving since 1924 due to an agreement with the Macy Store (which had its first parade that year) and other large retailers.

The term Black Friday was given to the day right after Thanksgiving Thursday in the 1960s for a couple of reasons: Black referred to black ink in the ledgers of stores indicating a profit as opposed to red ink which indicated a loss; and to the police complaints of street congestion from long lines of shoppers waiting to get into their favorite stores. Shoppers also even rioted and fights broke out over obtaining sale items. This day was designated the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

This year the gates are down and the Friday before Thanksgiving has been deemed Black Friday.

Now the profit friendly holiday, Christmas, has managed to ignore Thanksgiving altogether.

You might ask, "what does it matter?" Well, let's think about it.

For years people have complained that Christmas has lost the focus for the Christian religions. That gift giving and exchanging has taken on a life of its own, separate from the religious roots of the holiday.

For years I have been complaining that people don't remember the religious connotations of Thanksgiving. It is about giving thanks, after all. The only reason Thanksgiving has held out this long is because it is a family orientated holiday; celebrated with family-provided food by gathered family and friends.

I noticed this year that Thanksgiving decorations are featured -- this last week before the holiday. I suppose this is to entice people into the store to buy Christmas gifts.

Now I have nothing against Christmas; nor do I oppose exchanging gifts. But let's let Thanksgiving have its time. It is a simple holiday. No trees to buy or cut down, no lights to hang on the roof, no inflatable reindeer pulling sleds to set up on the lawn, no once-beloved carols incessantly blaring on speakers, no colorful papers to buy and throw away.

On the flip side, this trend may eventually do away with Black Friday sales altogether.

To save Thanksgiving, I vow next year to do all my Christmas shopping the day after Halloween.

This year we are having a family get-together as usual; weather allowing. We often exchange our gifts at our Thanksgiving gathering; so I will start my own campaign to get all that shopping done before Thanksgiving when the weather is nicer. Maybe we should take the coming Ice Age or Global Warming into consideration: not to mention gas prices for all that shopping and two family get-togethers.

Maybe we should incorporate both holidays into one. A Give Thanks for Christmas Gifts Day or a Thanksgiving For Christ Day. Since both holidays were implemented as religious observances, blending them shouldn't be too difficult and shouldn't offend anyone. The current trend is to give more weight to Christmas observances; I wonder why? Thanksgiving has the better timing as far as weather problems.

Of course, the whole religious connotation might cause even more problems. Thanksgiving seems to offend some people and Harvest Festival has been instigated as an alternative name for showing appreciation of food on the table from a good crop.

I don't know the answers. I just know Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and as for me and my house, we will celebrate it together; no matter what bargains the retailers advertise. I just hope the turkeys are raised in the U.S.A.