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It Wasn't Supposed to be Thanksgiving Yesterday

2023-11-24 · explainer · Hank · 4:30 · watch on YouTube

Topic: History & curiosities · mode: Explainer · tags: timely hook, calendar ritual, self promotion, community lore, recurring series

On Black Friday, Hank explains that Thanksgiving's date was set for shopping reasons: FDR's 1939 move to the second-to-last Thursday ('Franksgiving') was widely hated, and Congress compromised on the fourth Thursday, which is why Black Friday falls when it does; he then plugs Good.Store, his cancer socks and Complexly calendars and notes he has finally posted the 2022 Census.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Black Friday: a made-up lighthouse remembrance, and the oddness of shopping the day after giving thanks

  • ★★ Hank describes Black Friday as the day Americans turn off their lights from 6 to 7 p.m. to honor sailors lost before the US Lighthouse Service, then admits the 'fact' isn't true. (playful) — 00:00:00 · United States
  • ★★ Hank finds it weird that one day we are grateful for what we have and the next we need more stuff, though holiday shopping is about getting things for people you love, not bad. — 00:00:14

00:00:29 — Why Thanksgiving falls when it does: Evacuation Day, Lincoln, FDR's Franksgiving and Congress's fourth-Thursday compromise

  • ★★★ Hank says Thanksgiving falls on the day it does for shopping reasons, and the story is weirder than people think. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says the early US had a holiday, Evacuation Day, on the last Thursday (23 November 2023) of November, marking the day the British left; Thanksgiving eventually took its place. — 00:00:38 · United States
  • ★★ Hank says most states held Thanksgiving at the end of November, Lincoln made that national, and after the Civil War and Reconstruction everyone celebrated it then. — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Hank says that in 1939 FDR on his own moved Thanksgiving to the second-to-last Thursday (23 November 2023) of November to give people more shopping time before Christmas, announcing it on October 31. — 00:01:27 · Christmas
  • ★★ Hank says people hated the change: FDR's fans went along, but about 70% of the country opposed it, especially on such short notice. — 00:01:45
  • ★★ Hank says FDR's opponents mockingly called it Franksgiving, and his main Republican challenger said he had sprung it on an unprepared country with the omnipotence of a Hitler. — 00:02:05 · Republican Party
  • ★★ Hank says states began celebrating Thanksgiving on different days, so Congress stepped in with the most confusing compromise: the fourth Thursday of November. — 00:02:26 · United States Congress
  • ★★ Hank says Thanksgiving can now fall anywhere from the 22nd to the 28th of November, which he finds annoying, and the rule added a few days to the Christmas season. — 00:02:55 · Christmas
  • ★★★ Hank says FDR was a little bit right: in years with more days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, US employment numbers significantly increase. — 00:03:04 · United States, Christmas
  • ★★ Hank says that for a while there was a separate Thanksgiving for Republicans and for Democrats. — 00:03:15 · Republican Party

00:03:24 — Black Friday plugs: Good.Store, cancer socks, coffee, soap, Complexly calendars; the 2022 Census is up; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank says that is why Black Friday is today rather than a week from now, as it would have been without FDR's idea. — 00:03:24
  • ★★ Hank says Good.Store already donates 100% of its profit to charity, so no Black Friday discount code is needed. — 00:03:29 · Good Store
  • ★★ Hank points viewers to his cancer socks at Good.Store, which he is wearing; all the money goes to making access to cancer treatment more equitable. — 00:03:36 · Hank's Cancer Socks, Good Store
  • ★ Hank says two Garfields a day are still going out in the cancer sock orders, and it is fine if viewers don't know what that means. (joke) — 00:03:44 · Hank's Cancer Socks
  • ★★ Hank says Good.Store also offers the Awesome Coffee Club and Sun Basin Soap, whose holiday boxes he plugs. — 00:03:48 · Good Store, Awesome Coffee Club, Sun Basin Soap
  • ★★ Hank says Sun Basin Soap's holiday boxes cost $25 to $99, and Good.Store orders over $75 ship free. — 00:03:53 · Sun Basin Soap, Good Store
  • ★★ Hank recommends Complexly's four calendars (James Webb Space Telescope, Microcosmos microphotography, Bizarre Beasts illustrations, Eons ancestors), 10% off with the code SAVETHEDATE. — 00:04:02 · Complexly, Journey to the Microcosmos, Bizarre Beasts, Eons
  • ★★ Hank says he has finally done the 2022 Nerdfighteria Census results after a busy year; it was fun and is uploaded on Hank's channel. — 00:04:19 · hankschannel

Humor (significant)

  • Hank presents a solemn Black Friday lights-off remembrance of sailors lost before the Lighthouse Service. — 00:00:00

    “is a fact that I wish was true, but it's not.”

  • The British left the US for good on Evacuation Day. — 00:00:29

    “Until, of course, they came back, which they do now. Largely to shop, weirdly enough.”

  • Hank imagines FDR announcing the Thanksgiving change the day before November. — 00:01:27

    “Thanksgiving is going to be on a different day than you thought. Happy Halloween! Trick or treat!”

  • After explaining the fourth-Thursday rule, Hank admits his own confusion. — 00:02:26

    “I'm 43 years old. I'm still confused about that”

  • Hank notes there were briefly separate Thanksgivings for Republicans and Democrats. — 00:03:15

    “Adorable. Very American of you, America.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Black Friday · Franklin Delano Roosevelt · Franksgiving · Thanksgiving

Also: People: Abraham Lincoln · Adolf Hitler

Projects: Awesome Coffee Club · Bizarre Beasts · Eons · Good Store · hankschannel · Journey to the Microcosmos · Nerdfighteria Census · Sun Basin Soap

Works: Complexly calendars · Hank's Cancer Socks

Organizations: Democratic Party · Republican Party · United States Congress · United States Lighthouse Service

Concepts: consumerism

Places: United States

Events: American Civil War · Christmas · Evacuation Day (New York) · Halloween (holiday) · Reconstruction era

Characters: Garfield

Products: James Webb Space Telescope

Only in the description or credits: Complexly

Also centred on Black Friday: November 23rd: BLACK FRIDAY! · Black Friday: An Accident of History · The Bizarro History of Black Friday: (AND 2017 CENSUS!)

Also centred on Thanksgiving: November 21st: What I'm Grateful For · Thanksgiving in Asheville · 50 THINGS!! That I'm Thankful For · Black Friday: An Accident of History · personal risk · societal risk

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