Honestly, it feels like forever ago now, but there was a lot of scrambling around the date for thanksgiving 2024.
If you were looking at your calendar back then, the big day landed on Thursday, November 28, 2024.
That is late. Kinda late for most of us who like to get a head start on Christmas shopping or just want that extra week of "holiday mode" before December hits. It was actually the latest possible date Thanksgiving can ever occur. You've probably noticed that the holiday floats around, never sticking to a specific number like Christmas does. It’s always that fourth Thursday.
But why?
The "Franksgiving" Drama
Believe it or not, we haven't always been so rigid about the fourth Thursday thing. Back in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to mess with the schedule. The country was still clawing its way out of the Great Depression, and retailers were panicking because November had five Thursdays that year. They figured if Thanksgiving was on the last day of the month, nobody would buy Christmas presents until December.
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So, FDR just... moved it. He bumped it up a week.
People lost their minds. It was absolute chaos for football coaches who had games scheduled and calendar printers who had already shipped their products. People started calling it "Franksgiving." Some states ignored the President and celebrated on the old date anyway, while others went with the new one. For a couple of years, depending on where you lived, you might have missed the turkey entirely if you crossed state lines.
Eventually, Congress had to step in and play parent. In 1941, they passed a law making the fourth Thursday the official federal holiday. They did this to stop the "Executive interference" and give everyone some peace of mind.
Why 2024 was a "Short" Season
Because the date for thanksgiving 2024 fell on November 28, it created one of the shortest holiday shopping windows we've seen in years.
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Think about it.
If Thanksgiving is on November 22 (the earliest it can be), you get over a month until Christmas. When it’s on the 28th, you’re basically sprinting through December. That’s why you probably saw Christmas trees for sale at the grocery store before you even bought your turkey. Retailers knew they were fighting against a calendar that was working against them.
What goes into picking the day?
It’s not just a random guess. The logic is built into the law now, but the tradition goes back way further than the 1940s.
- Abraham Lincoln was the one who really solidified the "last Thursday" tradition in 1863, mostly as a way to find some unity during the Civil War.
- Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb," actually spent 36 years lobbying various presidents to make it a national holiday. She was relentless.
- George Washington called for a day of thanks back in 1789, but it wasn't a yearly thing yet. It was more of a "one-and-done" proclamation for that specific year.
Most people think the Pilgrims started the whole "Thursday" thing, but that’s mostly a myth. Puritans usually picked Thursdays for "Lecture Days" so they wouldn't interfere with the Sabbath on Sunday. It was a practical choice, not a religious requirement.
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Planning for the future
If you're already trying to coordinate travel or figure out when to request time off for the next few years, you don't need a math degree. You just need to find the fourth Thursday.
For 2025, it’s going to be November 27.
In 2026, it’s November 26.
It’s a cycle. But 2024 was special because it pushed us right up against the edge of December. It reminded everyone that even though we think of these dates as "set in stone," they’re actually the result of decades of political bickering, retail lobbying, and one very determined lady who wrote children’s poems.
If you’re still thinking about the date for thanksgiving 2024 and how it impacted your schedule, just remember that the "short" season was a calendar fluke. We won't see a November 28 Thanksgiving again for several years.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check your 2025 and 2026 calendars now to see if your usual travel routes will be as cramped. Since the dates are slightly earlier, you might find that the travel rush is spread out a bit more than it was during the 2024 crunch. Also, if you’re a host, mark the Monday before the holiday as your "last chance" for grocery delivery—slots fill up significantly faster when the holiday falls late in the month.