American Holidays

America’s Holidays and Celebrations Compiled by O. Zabolotnyi Right: Independence Day fireworks in New York

America is blessed with rich ethnic heritage and, thus, many holidays to celebrate. Although the word ‘holiday’ literally means ‘holy day’, many of them are not religious, but commemorative. Here we can cast a glance on just a few of a number of nation-wide celebrations, and, unfortunately have to ignore hundreds (if not thousands) local ones. INDEPENDENCE DAY is, undoubtedly, the major national holiday in the USA. It is celebrated on July 4. By the mid-1700s it became difficult for thirteen British colonies in the New World to be ruled by a monarch 3,000 miles across the ocean. The British Empire imposed high taxes upon the colonies undermining their development. Left: Traditional Independence Day parade

In 1774, the First Continental Congress drew up a list of grievances against the British crown. The document was the first one that spoke about the separation of the colonies from England. In 1775 the Revolutionary War began. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia presented another document, which was adopted two days later, on July 4, and is known as the Declaration of Independence. Although the war went on until 1783, it is July 4, 1776 is considered to be the birthday of the American nation and is celebrated in every county and town of the USA. On July 4 Americans have a holiday from work. People have day-long picnics with barbecues and hot dogs. Many cities and towns have parades with people dressed as the original ‘founding fathers’ and Revolutionary War soldiers. In the evening people gather to watch spectacular firework displays. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together to celebrate Independence Day. LABOR DAY comes in the calendar after Independence Day. It is celebrated on the first Monday in September. The idea of the holiday is to honor working people of America and to give them a long weekend holiday from work.

Labor Day was started in 1882 by a union called the Knights of Labor. The first celebration was a long parade followed by a picnic in New York City. It was a part of the labor unions’ fight for workers’ rights. In 1886 the American Federation of Labor was formed to defend the employees’ Page 2. interests. In 1894 the US Congress made the first Monday of September a legal national holiday. Labor Day is traditionally celebrated with parades and union activists’ speeches. Barbecues and picnics are also popular activities to follow the official part. This holiday marks the end of the summer season for every American. HALLOWEEN is not an official holiday in the USA, but it is widely celebrated on October 31 in the whole English-speaking world due to the ancient Celtic tradition. The name of the festival means “holy evening” (All Hallow Eve) because it happens the day before All Saints Day (November 1) established by the early Christian church on the British Isles. It was then a way to combine new Christian tradition with an ancient pagan festival of the dead. The Halloween symbolic colors are orange, green, yellow and black. Black cats, skulls, skeletons, ghosts, bats, witches’ hats and brooms can be seen everywhere. Another prominent Halloween symbol is a Jack-oLantern: a hollow pumpkin with a carved face and a lit candle inside. An Irish legend says that once there was a man called Jack who was not accepted in Heaven, because he was a sinner; and equally unwanted in hell because he had played jokes on the devil. So, Jack was doomed to trudge around the world with his lantern until the Judgment Day. Children’s main and favorite Halloween activity is trick-or-treating. They dress up in costumes of ghosts, skeletons, witches, pirates, and horror movie characters and go around the neighborhood from door to door greeting the hosts saying ‘Trick or treat!’ They are given fruit, candy, cakes and small money by the neighbors. THANKSGIVING DAY is marked on the last Thursday in November making that weekend a really long one. All generations of every family sit together at the feast table on that day. The Thanksgiving weekend gives the start to the Christmas season. This holiday has a long history, which started in 1620 when a Protestant religious group known today as ‘Pilgrims’ arrived in the New World on board of the ship called Mayflower, and settled in what is now known as the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in America was full of hardship

and drama. They arrived too late to farm the land, so they starved. Half of the colony died from disease. The following spring the local tribe of Native Americans taught them how to grow corn and other crops. They also helped them to hunt and fish. In the autumn of 1621 the Pilgrims got a rich harvest of corn, barley, beans, pumpkin and other vegetables. They prepared a feast and sat together with the Indian chief and ninety other natives at the abundant dinner tables. Of course, prior to dining they praised the Lord, and thanked Him for all the food and wealth He gave them. This is how the festivity got started. In the years that followed colonists in many settlements celebrated the harvest with a feast of thanks. After the United States gained Independence the congress recommended a single day of thanksgiving Page 3. for the entire country. George Washington, the first president of the USA, suggested November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. It was Abraham Lincoln who established the holiday on the last Thursday of November after the end of the Civil War. A traditional Thanksgiving meal consists of roast turkey stuffed with herb-flavored bread, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin pie. Other dishes may vary regionally: ham, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, maple syrup etc.

CHRISTMAS dinner also includes stuffed turkey and gathers families at the table to enjoy the celebration of one of the most wonderful holidays of the year. However, some families prefer ham or roast goose for that occasion. Right: ‘Christmas Tree -1’ is placed in Washington D.C. right in front of the White House, the residence of the president of the United States.

Christmas is a Christian holiday that marks the birth of Jesus Christ. Most Christians observe it on December 25. Homes, streets, stores, gas stations, schools and hospitals are decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths and colored lights. The sound of bells and Christmas carols can be heard everywhere. Santa Claus is the one who is considered to be

in charge of the Christmas presents. Children write letters to Santa Claus and tell him what presents they would like to get. Many shopping malls hire people to wear a Santa’s costume and listen to children’s requests. It is believed that Santa Claus arrives on Christmas Eve in a sleigh pulled by reindeer and brings the presents into ‘good’ children’s homes through a chimney. Some kids hang up stockings for Santa Claus to fill them with candy, fruit and other small presents. There is also a tradition to leave a glass of milk and some cookies on the table for Santa to have a snack. Groups of people walk from house to house singing Christmas carols. People give them money, candy or some small gifts. Singers may also be invited inside for a warm drink.

Page 4. SAINT PATRICK’S DAY is celebrated on March 17 not only by Irish people. There is even a motto saying: ‘Everybody is Irish on March 17!’ Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the color green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green or orange, eating Irish food and/or green foods, drinking Irish beverages and attending parades. Schools also often dress up in green on St. Patrick’s Day. In Chicago the river is dyed green on that day. The legend says that St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the preChristian Irish. The wearing of and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a distinctive feature of the saint's holiday. Right: Chicago, Illinois, March 17, 2008. The river has been dyed green.

EASTER, a Christian holiday connected with resurrection of Jesus Christ, is supposed to be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. It has some distinctive symbols that are not connected with the Biblical text: a painted Easter egg and an Easter Bunny (rabbit).

The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter was not widely celebrated in America until after that time. As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers. Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy.