How Retailers Rewrote the American Calendar
Classification: TEMPORAL ANOMALY | Confidence: DOCUMENTED FACT
On August 31, 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a proclamation that should have been impossible. He moved Thanksgiving.
Not by accident. Not by tradition. By executive decree — for the sole purpose of extending the Christmas shopping season.
In 1939, November had five Thursdays. The last Thursday fell on November 30 — leaving only 24 shopping days until Christmas. Fred Lazarus Jr., president of Federated Department Stores (later Macy's), lobbied Roosevelt to move Thanksgiving one week earlier to November 23. Roosevelt complied.
The press dubbed it "Franksgiving."
This is documented, undisputed historical fact. The "tradition" Americans defend is 83 years old. It was created by a president who wanted to help department stores sell more merchandise.
Those in power manufacture "traditions," and within one generation, people defend them as eternal truths. The diamond ring, the Christmas shopping season, the calendar itself — all malleable. All manufactured.